Sharpen Up: February 22, 2018

The Sabres and Red Wings will go head-to-head for the third time this season. It kicks off a two-game trip for Buffalo and a stretch of three games in four nights. They'll be in Washington on Saturday and back home against the Bruins on Sunday.
We'll have full coverage from Detroit coming your way here on Sabres.com. That will get you ready for the GMC Game Night pregame show at 7 p.m. on MSG. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30 on MSG and WGR 550.
Here's what you need to know.

Yesterday's practice

The Sabres were back on the ice Wednesday.
Here's how the full lineup looked at practice
:
9 Evander Kane - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 23 Sam Reinhart
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 21 Kyle Okposo
20 Scott Wilson - 22 Johan Larsson - 29 Jason Pominville
67 Benoit Pouliot - 10 Jacob Josefson - 13 Nicholas Baptiste (17 Jordan Nolan)
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Marco Scandella - 8 Casey Nelson
4 Josh Gorges - 93 Victor Antipin (41 Justin Falk)
40 Robin Lehner
31 Chad Johnson
Lehner was a full participant in practice and will be ready to play on Thursday, Housley said. The goaltender was scratched on Monday to rest a nagging lower-body injury, but skated Tuesday while the rest of the team stayed off the ice.
Our Ice Level Practice Report also took a closer look at Scott Wilson's play as of late:
Scott Wilson admits that it took him some time to settle in this season. With the whirlwind he went through, who can blame him?
Wilson played for three teams in the first two months of the season. He was traded from Pittsburgh, which he had helped win a Stanley Cup last spring, to Detroit after just three regular-season games. He only lasted 17 games with the Red Wings before being acquired by Buffalo on Dec. 4.

Nearly three months later - and on the eve of his return to Detroit - Wilson seems to have found his comfort zone. The forward has three goals and two assists in his last six games and 10 points (5+5) overall since joining the Sabres.
He had been held without a point in 20 games prior to his trade to Buffalo.
"I think finally being able to play a little bit with a team for longer than a couple weeks has really gone a long way," Wilson said. "I'm starting to really learn the systems. At the same time, when you're just working hard out there, trying to do the right things, you get some bounces."
You can read more here.

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes...
- Ryan O'Reilly has recorded 19 points (9+10) in his last 19 games. - Sam Reinhart has totaled 17 points (6+11) in his last 16 games. - Rasmus Ristolainen has 18 points (5+13) in his last 23 games dating back to Dec. 29. Ristolainen's 18 points during that span tied for eighth among NHL defensemen entering play Wednesday. - Kyle Okposo has recorded 17 points (4+13) in his last 18 games. - Evan Rodrigues has totaled six points (2+4) in his last seven games. - Scott Wilson has posted five points (3+2) in his last six games.

Today in Sabres history

2007: Patrick Kaleta records his first career point (an assist) in his NHL debut vs. Ottawa.

The Sabres would win the game 6-5 in a shootout after the teams combined to record 136 penalty minutes.
(Speaking of Beyond Blue and Gold, there's a new episode coming soon, so stay tuned!)
2011: Terry Pegula announces his purchase of the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres would finish the season by going 16-4-4 in the 24 games after the purchase to make the playoffs.