Game 11
Buffalo Sabres (8-2-1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (3-7-0)
Puck Drop: 7:30 PM EST | Little Caesars Arena | Detroit, MI
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Red Wings Blog: Winging It In Motown
Know Your Opponent
Detroit Red Wings
Record: 3-7-0 | 6 PTS
Last 10: 3-7-0
Division Ranking: 7th in the Atlantic Division
Conference Ranking: 15th in the Eastern Conference
PP: 25th (12.1%)
PK: 26th (71.9%)
What to Watch
1. Detroit’s Downward Spiral
The first few games of the 2019-20 season were nice in Motown. The Red Wings started the year winning three of four, and Anthony Mantha was ripping-off four-goal outings. Life was good.
Since then, Detroit has spiraled out of control, losing their next six games by a combined score of 27-9. On Wednesday, they dropped a 5-2 decision to the last place Ottawa Senators. Yes, the Sabres will be playing their second game in two nights, but dropping two games in-a-row against losing teams in the Eastern Conference would still be disappointing.
2. Capitalize on the Power Play
Since the beginning of their west coast road trip last week, the Sabres haven’t been quite as potent with the man-advantage, capitalizing on only three of their last 21 opportunities.
The Red Wings have one of the worst penalty-kill units in the NHL. In fact, they’re pretty ineffective in all facets of the game. The Sabres’ special teams units need to be able to capitalize and get their groove back tonight.
3. Stay Disciplined
Despite the fact that Detroit’s power-play has been one of the league’s worst so far this season, this is an over-arching point about the 2019-20 as a whole. Currently, the Sabres are the eighth-most penalized team in the NHL at nearly 10 PIM per game (9.8, to be exact). Compounding on the issue, their penalty-kill is still below-average, operating at 79.4-percent.
Game Prediction
Forwards
Victor Olofsson – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner – Marcus Johansson – Vladimir Sobotka
Jimmy Vesey – Casey Mittelstadt – Conor Sheary
Zemgus Girgensons – Johan Larsson – Kyle Okposo
Defense
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella – Henri Jokiharju
Starting Goaltender: Linus Ullmark
Detroit Red Wings (projected)
Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou – Valtteri Filppula – Luke Glendening
Darren Helm – Frans Nielsen – Taro Hirose
Justin Abdelkader – Jacob De La Rose – Evgeny Svechnikov
Defense
Patrik Nemeth – Mike Green
Trevor Daley – Filip Hronek
Dennis Cholowski – Madison Bowey
Starting Goaltender: Jimmy Howard