Today is a huge game. The Red Wings play the Buffalo Sabres in our fifth-last game of the season.

The NHL released this year’s draft lottery odds, and the Sabres are currently the favourites with 18.5% chance of drafting Dahlin. Detroit, currently at 5th last, have an 8.5% chance.

The Wings won’t finish last in the league but have a legit shot at finishing 3rd or 4th last – the Canucks and Coyotes are both only 2 points behind us. With only 4 games remaining, it’s crucial we lose-out.

In other news, Buffalo has confirmed that their elite prospect, Casey Mittelstadt, will be playing tonight. If you want to watch someone exciting – watch him.

Here are your projected lineups for tonight’s game:

Jeff Blashill is keeping that top line of Bertuzzi, Zetterberg, and Nyquist together because the trio have been Detroit’s most productive players over the last few games. Bertuzzi, especially, has looked really good as of late and really carving his role into this roster.

Dylan Larkin continues to lead the team in points, though I’m not thrilled about him and Andreas Athanasiou being separated. I really thought they were building some solid chemistry together. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with Larkin continuing to build on-ice chemistry with Anthony Mantha, since together they will be a pair in the future.

Finally, Evgeny Svechnikov has earned his ice time as he’s been getting more and more of it every game. His possession numbers are good and he seems to have good chemistry with Martin Frk, as evidenced by his first NHL goal last week.

On defense, I can’t wait to see more of Little Joe Hicketts, who recorded his first NHL point in Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hicketts played a great game defensively and even got some time on the powerplay. Expect him to slide in on a pair with Kronwall again tonight.

The Sabres have had a lackluster season, but they are hoping the addition of Casey Middlestadt breathes some energy into them. Middlestadt is the team’s best prospect and made himself a household name with his showing in the 2018 World Junior Championships. He’ll play on the second line with Sam Reinhart on his wing.

The top line is definitely the best Buffalo has to offer with Eichel at center, who missed a large chunk of time with an injury but had a great first game back against the Leafs on Tuesday, and Jason Pominville on his wing.

Rounding out the top-9 are Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, and former Red Wing Scott Wilson. While this lineup is definitely hurting without Evander Kane in it, I don’t understand why they have such a hard time winning.

*Looks at the defense*

Oh, that’s why.

It’s not even a question that Howard is Detroit’s best goalie. Jared Coreau let in two soft goals in Tuesday’s game against Montreal that, had Howie been in net, the Wings would have won. Being the clear number one on this team right now, expect Howard to get every start from here on out.

As for Robin Lehner, well, he’s not much to write home about. With a .909 save percentage 2.99 goals against average on the season, Lehner is a big part of why the Sabres are where they are in the standings. Of course, he has to play behind that dismal defense which doesn’t help him in the slightest.

If you’re so inclined to watch the tank battle on MLB’s Opening Day, FSD will be where it’s at!

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