Red Wings at Sabres
The Detroit Red Wings are sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division but are well within striking range of second entering a matchup at the cellar-dwelling Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. Detroit erased a pair of three-goal deficits before knocking off Boston in a shootout Wednesday to move within six points of the Bruins with three games in hand.
The Red Wings have ripped off three consecutive victories to escape the division basement and are seeking their first four-game winning streak since a six-game run in October. "The stretch before the All-Star break is important so we can go in and feel good about ourselves and come back and make a hard push and get into the playoffs," forward Dylan Larkin said. Buffalo has dropped three of its last four -- all on the road -- after squandering an early two-goal lead in a 4-2 loss at Toronto on Tuesday night. The Sabres and Red Wings have split a pair of one-goal decisions this season, with the away team prevailing each time.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, MSG-B (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (20-19-6): Rookie Jared Coreau, making his third straight start, was yanked after giving up three goals in under nine minutes at Toronto, but even that had a silver lining for Detroit. Petr Mrazek, winless in his previous six appearances (0-5-1), turned aside 23 of 25 shots in relief. "Petr came in and played excellent," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "To be honest with you, I thought Petr has been playing very good. He hasn't had results he's wanted and the pucks have gone in the net."
ABOUT THE SABRES (17-18-9): Buffalo starting netminder Robin Lehner also was pulled from his last start and he didn't go quietly, slamming his helmet to the bench, but he insisted he respected coach Dan Bylsma's decision. "I’m a competitive guy who doesn’t want to get out of the net. I don’t want to leave the net," Lehner said. "I want to sink with the ship or be able to stand in there and come back." Tyler Ennis, who scored Monday in his return from a 30-game absence, is expected in the lineup versus Detroit.
OVERTIME
1. The Red Wings are 6-0 in shootouts this season and F Thomas Vanek has converted all four of his attempts.
2. Sabres F Evander Kane had four goals in his last eight games overall and four in 12 contests versus Detroit.
3. The Red Wings' league-worst power play is 2-for-32 over the past 10 games.