Red Wings at Sabres
After they were again rebuffed in their bid to win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly two months, the Buffalo Sabres will resume a season-long seven-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon. Buffalo has dropped four points out of the second wild card after losing 11 of 16 games (5-9-2) since the Christmas break.
The Sabres need to tighten up defensively, having allowed 17 goals in the first three games of the homestand following Thursday's 6-5 overtime loss to Carolina. "I understand it hasn't been perfectly clean by any means, but the game's wide open," goaltender Carter Hutton said. "I think you look across the league, it's a lot of high-scoring games. It's just the way the league's trending." The Red Wings were trending in the opposite direction, allowing four goals during a three-game winning streak before matching that total in Thursday's 4-3 home loss to Vegas. Detroit will play four of its next five away from home, starting with a three-game road trip that includes visits to Chicago and Nashville.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, MSG-Buffalo
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (21-26-7): Rookie Michael Rasmussen returned to the lineup for the first time in more than a month due to a hamstring injury and responded by scoring one goal and setting up another against the Golden Knights. It was the first multiple-point game for the 6-foot-6, 221-pound Rasmussen, who was selected No. 9 overall in the 2017 draft. "I thought Ras was great. I thought it was the best game he's played all year for us," coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's a menace around the net. As I've said here lots, he's probably going to score 20-plus in the league because he's real good around the net."
ABOUT THE SABRES (26-20-7): Forward Jeff Skinner, who played his first eight years in Carolina before joining Buffalo this season, had a pair of goals against his former team to hike his total to 33 -- four shy of his career best set in 2016-17. Forward Sam Reinhart, moved off the No. 1 line in the hopes of adding more offensive balance to the lineup, has two straight two-point games while Evan Rodrigues continued his recent binge with six goals in the last eight games to establish a career best with eight. "We're scoring enough to win," Rodrigues said. "We're not defending. Simple as that."
OVERTIME
1. Sabres captain Jack Eichel has nine points in his last eight contests overall and nine in 12 games versus Detroit.
2. Red Wings C Dylan Larkin had two assists Thursday, giving him 10 points in his last seven games.
3. Buffalo assigned D Casey Nelson to Rochester of the American Hockey League on a conditioning loan.