Everything you need to know before Red Wings-Sabres tonight in Buffalo
Tonight, the Detroit Red Wings will look to continue their strong form on the road in Buffalo, taking on the Sabres at the KeyBank Center for a 7:30 puck drop. The Sabres will be looking to snap a three-game skid (featuring losses to the Predators, Hurricanes, and Blues), while Detroit has won five of its last six.
Here's what you need to know ahead of tonight's tilt:
Apr 6, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso (35) blocks Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) penalty shot during the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Red Wings Lines and Availability
From a Red Wings perspective, there was some speculation that tonight's game would be a perfect opportunity for Patrick Kane to debut in his hometown. However, though he took line rushes with Joe Veleno and Alex DeBrincat, then took reps with the top power play unit, Kane is not expected to play tonight against the Sabres.
The other notable takeaway from yesterday's Detroit practice was the absence of J.T. Compher.
Compher has been excellent for the Red Wings of late, which was most obvious in Detroit's rout of Chicago last Thursday, but has been on general display throughout the last month or so. The University of Michigan product has six points in his last six games and 19 points in 23 games on the season.
If he maintains that pace, the end result would be a career high in points (he's currently tracking for 67.7). Fortunately for the Red Wings, coach Derek Lalonde referred to Compher's absence as just a "maintenance day" and is counting on the 28-year-old tonight in Buffalo.
With the caveat that we now believe Kane won't play and Compher will, here is how Detroit's forwards lined up at yesterday's practice:
Given that Kane (a winger) is the player coming out of yesterday's practice lineup and Compher (a center) is the one folding back in, it stands to reason that we shouldn't expect a one-for-one swap. After practice, Lalonde confirmed as much by suggesting that tonight's lines might bear a greater resemblance to the ones the team used in Montreal Saturday than to yesterday's:
Perhaps the most interesting distinction between yesterday's practice lines and Saturday's against the Canadiens is the presence of Robby Fabbri on the top line. Perhaps he will jump back to the third-line role he played against the Habs when the puck drops tonight, but given his eight points in seven games since returning from injury, you couldn't say Fabbri hasn't earn a top line look, and perhaps that's what he will get.
Lyon to Start, but Lalonde Downplays Changes to Goalie Rotation
Alex Lyon will get the start in goal for Detroit.
Lyon gave up three goals in the third period of his Red Wing debut—a 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs in Sweden—but since then, he's allowed just two goals across three starts (all of them wins). In his four-game Detroit career, Lyon can now boast a .958 save percentage, 1.26 goals against average, and a shutout to his name.
After practice, Lalonde pushed back against the notion that the Red Wings have adopted a goaltending rotation. When asked directly about that possibility, he said "We're not there by any means. So we'll get through tomorrow with Alex and see how that goes, then make a decision for Thursday [against the Sharks]."
In other words, Lalonde upheld the idea that Ville Husso remains Detroit's starter in name, as opposed to Lyon supplanting him in that capacity with his strong recent form. Husso, too, had been good of late in some difficult spots on the road in Boston and New York, but he wasn't at the top of his game in Montreal.
Despite Lalonde's moderate pushback, Husso and Lyon have indeed alternated games since the Red Wings returned from Sweden. It's a small sample (six games), but it is an undeniable step back from Detroit's stated pre-season plan of using Husso roughly 55 times (i.e. giving Husso roughly two-thirds of the starts).
Husso stumbled (at least to some extent) Saturday, so now Lyon does appear to have the chance to make a statement with a strong performance against the Sabres.
Thompson Set to Return & Other Buffalo Lineup Notes
-Last week, Adam Fox returned from injury for the Rangers against the Red Wings, and it appears tonight Detroit will once again have to wrangle a star making his return from injury for a team from New York State.
This time, the player in question is Sabres center Tage Thompson, who has missed nine games and roughly three weeks of action due to an upper body injury he sustained blocking a shot against the Bruins on November 14th.
Buffalo went 3-5-1 in Thompson's absence, and his return is a welcome salve for a team that has been struggling for goals. Since the start of November, the Sabres have scored more than three goals just thrice in 16 games (with two of those coming on November 1st and 4th, i.e. over a month ago).
Thompson hasn't quite matched his torrid scoring pace of last season (94 points in 78 games), but he does have six goals and six assists in 16 games, and he is, without doubt, a central figure in the Buffalo attack.
Per Heather Engel of NHL.com, here is how the Sabres lined up at this morning's skate:
-Eric Comrie is expected to get the start in goal for Buffalo. He is 1-4-0 on the season with an .864 save percentage and a 3.99 goals against average. It's another small sample, but those are by no means flattering numbers, making this another match-up the Red Wings will want to take advantage of. Comrie played three games for Detroit in the '19-20 season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is out sick, so the Sabres have called up prospect Devon Levi to serve as Comrie's back-up.
Dahlin and Power Lead Sabres from the Back
Entering the season, Buffalo (along with the Ottawa Senators) appeared a natural peer for Detroit because the three teams were at approximately similar places in their respective rebuilds—each keen to begin competing for a playoff space in the crowded Eastern Conference.
One central difference between Detroit and the Sabres is that the Red Wings haven't had the lottery luck to pick number one overall in the draft throughout its rebuild, while Buffalo did just that in 2018 and 2021. The result of those two selections is a pair of franchise defensemen in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
There are stylistic differences between the two, but when you put them together, they look to be a duo that will command the blue line for the next decade. Dahlin is an outstanding skater, who uses his edges and anticipation to pirouette out of seemingly any problem presented to him, while Power's 6-foot-6 frame conceals the refinement of his offensive game.
Last summer, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams took a major step toward making that hypothetical a reality, by inking Dahlin to an eight-year, $88 million extension and Power to a seven-year, $58.5 million ticket.
When asked about those two players, Lalonde joked that he was the wrong man to explain how to stop them because of how much both players tormented Detroit a year ago.
"They absolutely slaughtered us all year last year to the point where I should maybe invoice of those guys with those huge contracts this summer, because they had their way with us in a lot of ways last year," Lalonde said. "I think they're special players. They're elite talents in the league. They're good for the league. And it creates a huge challenge for us being in the same division, obviously a challenge we did not handle very well last year."
In four games against the Red Wings a year ago (all of them Buffalo wins), Power put up six assists, while Dahlin managed a goal and four helpers. For Detroit, getting a better result against this year's Sabres will likely have to start with doing something to slow down the two number one overall picks on the back end.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game (a 7:30 PM puck drop) will be a streaming exclusive broadcast. There will be no Bally Sports Detroit broadcast; instead, the only options are ESPN+ and Hulu. ESPN's John Buccigross will be on the call with former New York Ranger and Tampa Bay Lightning winger Ryan Callahan as the analyst.
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