Game #64
Buffalo Sabres (25-32-6) vs Detroit Red Wings (30-28-6)
Puck Drop: 7:30 PM ET | Little Caesars Arena, Detroit MI
TV: TNT
Know Your Opponent
Detroit Red Wings
Record: 30-28-6 | 66 PTS
Last Game: 2-1 loss to the Senators (Cozens GWG, lol)
Division Ranking: 7th, Atlantic
PP: 3rd, 28.2% (53/188 opps) [Sabres: 27th, 16.6% (30/181 opps)]
PK: 19th, 77.5% (145/187 killed) [Sabres: 22nd, 76.8% (146/190 killed)]
What to Watch
1. Dubious Dahlin Drama
Yesterday saw the rise (and hopefully quick demise) of the ‘Dahlin wants out’ narrative. Burned by the irresistible allure of hope and blinded by the glare of the superstar spotlight, we Buffalo fans can’t help but (almost gleefully) wait for bad news with an intense morbid fascination that I just have not seen anywhere else in my travels around the world.
With the season pretty much ended, surely there’s got to be a way to keep eyeballs glued to the screen? So here we go, duped by engagement farmers paid by the click busy making an utter parody of both journalism and the sport.
Humor me here for a bit as there is an analogy from a High Performing Teams management course that I’d like to reference here. There are three kinds of people in any team, anywhere you go, sports, business, industry, class projects, whatever.
Player: Actively engaged, positive, open, and eager to learn. Looks for opportunities to take back what they learn, they ask insightful questions and participate in debate.
Vacationer: Not interested in learning but happy to be away from the daily grind. Pays attention some of the time, but mostly glad to be out of the office. Rarely volunteers for activities or provides input.
Prisoner: Feels forced to attend and would rather be doing something else. Spends a lot of time looking at phone or laptop. Is constantly late, does not participate and will not apply the concepts from the training.
Every player that is currently suiting up for the Sabres is also in one of these three categories. You’ll never have a team entirely composed of any one category, it just wouldn’t work and you need a bit of healthy tension. Championship winning teams though, they have enough of the first that drags the second and third groups over the line.
If Dahlin wants to get traded, so be it. Que sera, sera. It tells me he’s moved into either of category two or three, and that is not who we need leading the Sabres.
2. Bottom of the Atlantic
The two most out-of-form teams in the Atlantic are also the two lowest teams sitting in the basement of the division. Over the last ten games the Sabres are 3-6-1, while the Red Wings are seeing their playoff charge faltering at a crucial juncture going 2-7-1.
Detroit have lost six straight games coming into tonight so of course you know that means they are almost certain to win tonight. Any players that are on goal droughts and struggling with lack of form will be amongst the three stars of the game.
Or something like that.
3. More Chopping and Changing
The Peterka lower body injury means more changes to the forward lines, with Lindy rolling with these yesterday while Zucker was out on a maintenance day.
Kulich Norris Thompson
Benson Krebs Quinn
Rosen McLeod Tuch
Malenstyn Greenway Lafferty
Dunne
The Sabres canceled their morning skate today, so there could be more changes.
Also, don’t say it too loudly but per Paul Hamilton, since January 20th Tage Thompson leads the league in scoring, with 14 goals in 17 games. Criticism remains about his ability to influence games against stronger opponents, but what he did against the Oilers on Monday night was exactly what is needed from a top line forward.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jiri Kulich – Josh Norris – Tage Thompson
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Peyton Krebs – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Sam Lafferty – Jordan Greenway
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Jacob Bryson
Owen Power – Connor Clifton
Goalies: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (projected starter), James Reimer
Detroit Red Wings
Forwards
Elmer Soderblom – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Marco Kasper – Patrick Kane
Craig Smith – J.T. Compher – Vladimir Tarasenko
Michael Rasmussen – Tyler Motte – Dominik Shine
Defense
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Simon Edvinsson – Albert Johansson
Erik Gustafsson – Justin Holl
Goalies:
Cam Talbot, Petr Mrazek (projected starter)