WGD: GAME 46: RED WINGS @ SABRES

7 years ago

What a rollercoaster Wednesday was. The Red Wings went down 1-0 on a questionable “offside” goal, then fell behind 2-0 and ultimately were down 4-1 after the first period.

Detroit was outshot 19-7 in that period, but fought back to outshoot the Bruins 16-13 and outscore them 4-1 in the final two periods and send it to overtime. OT was as exciting as it always is and then the Red Wings move to 6-0 in the shootout (for real) and extended their winning streak to three.

As I mentioned prior to Wednesday’s game, their season is virtually on the line right now and they’re doing what they need to do so far. Four of their next six games are on home-ice as they get set to face the Sabres tonight and then vs. the Rangers, at the Bruins, vs. the Maple Leafs, Devils and Islanders. This is a huge stretch of games and if you look at the Eastern Conference standings, particularly the Atlantic Division, the Red Wings are still in this thing.

Tonight will be the third of four meetings between the Red Wings and Sabres. They split the first two games with the road team taking each game. The Sabres come in having lost three of their last four games and are 10-9-4 (.522 P%) since Jack Eichel returned to the lineup—they were 7-9-5 (.453 P%) while Eichel was out.

THE RED WINGS

Detroit Red Wings Lines courtesy of DailyFaceoff

The Red Wings could have a new face in the lineup tonight. Darren Helm (shoulder) is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. To activate him from IR, the Red Wings moved Steve Ott to IR on Thursday. Helm has missed the last 27 games with a dislocated shoulder, but it looks like he’ll be back in tonight. Helm has four goals and three assists (seven points) in 17 games this season and will be a big help to the Red Wings’ penalty kill. Whenever you can replace Drew Miller with Darren Helm, that is a huge boon to the lineup.

Tomas Tatar led the way on Wednesday, scoring once and adding two assists. Tatar had a slow first half, has now picked up three goals and five assists (eight points) in his last 10 games.

Dylan Larkin had two points (1G / 1A) against the Bruins and has 12 goals and six assists in 45 games this season. You can maybe chalk this up to a sophomore slump, but he is on-pace to fall just one goal short of last year’s total (23). If the Red Wings are going to make the playoff push they’re setting themselves up for, Larkin needs to have bigger second half.

Lastly, depending where the Red Wings are at the trade deadline, Thomas Vanek might not be traded and could re-up in Detroit. A lot of fans would like to see Vanek stay, because he’s been excellent for them so far. He is currently riding a seven-game point streak, having collected five goals and five assists (10 points) over that span.

THE SABRES

Buffalo Sabres Lines courtesy of DailyFaceoff

The Sabres are not as bad as people might make it seem. They’ve actually got a fairly deep lineup, especially when they’re healthy. Ryan O’Reilly has missed some time in 2016-17, but has seven points (1G / 6A) in seven games since getting back in their lineup, but they most important player is Eichel. The second-year forward has 17 points (10G / 7A) in 23 games this season and his return has been huge for players like Sam Reinhart. The 21-year-old centre/winger had four goals and six assists (10 points) in 21 games before Eichel played, but since No.15 got back, he has 18 points (5G / 13A) in 23 games.

On the blueline, the Sabres are led by Rasmus Ristolainen, who has 27 points (3G / 24A) in 44 games, but if you dig deeper, advanced analytics say he’s not as good as he might look on the surface. His Hero Chart from @MimicoHero is a great visual representation of how much he’s struggled when you dig.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Petr Mrazek vs. Anders Nilsson.

Mrazek made 23 saves on 25 shots after replacing Jared Coreau in the Red Wings’ come from behind win vs. the Bruins. Mrazek has had a really tough season, posting a 3.15 GAA and .894 SV% in 26 appearances.Mrazek was great despite seemingly looking uncomfortable and battling the puck on Wednesday. Regardless, it was enough to get the job done and just might be the jump-start Mrazek needed to regain confidence and propel a second-half push. Mrazek has a career .914 SV% in 120 career NHL games. Coreau simply isn’t ready for the NHL and they need to roll with Mrazek until Jimmy Howard is ready to go.

Nilsson missed Thursday’s practice with an illness, which prompted the Sabres to call-up Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL). However, he was back on the ice this morning for the gameday skate and will start versus Detroit tonight. The 26-year-old has had a solid season, going 7-6-4 with a 2.56 GAA and .924 SV%. Nilsson has faced an average of 33.8 shots per start, but has been equal to the test for the most part. He has also gone 5-1-1 with a 1.84 GAA and .947 SV% on home-ice.

THE LAST TIME…

The last meeting between these two squads was a physical, fight filled affair.

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. You can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit. If you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket.

Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter; we’ll have live tweets, GIFS, and all the fun stuff that a topical social media platform has.

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