BUFFALO – The Detroit Red Wings will look a bit more familiar when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at First Niagara Center.
Red Wings forward Johan Franzen will return to the lineup after missing the past six games with a groin injury. In four games, Franzen has two goals and three assists. He skated on a line with Gustav Nyquist and Darren Helm at practice on Saturday.
The Red Wings made room for Franzen by putting forward Stephen Weiss on injured reserve with a groin injury Friday. Weiss was injured while on a conditioning assignment playing for Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.
Even though the Red Wings get Franzen back, they’ll be without one of their top defensemen. Kyle Quincey sustained an ankle injury Friday in Detroit’s 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings and will not play. Brian Lashoff is expected to take his place and make his season debut.
The Sabres are looking to bounce back from a 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Jhonas Enroth stopped 29 shots and the Sabres gave up three power-play goals to the NHL’s best power play. With the Detroit game being the second of a back-to-back, Michal Neuvirth could start.
Here are the projected lineups:
RED WINGS
Henrik Zetterberg – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Gustav Nyquist – Darren Helm – Johan Franzen
Tomas Tatar – Riley Sheahan – Tomas Jurco
Drew Miller – Luke Glendening – Joakim Andersson
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Brian Lashoff – Danny DeKeyser
Scratched: Daniel Cleary, Andrej Nestrasil
Injured: Kyle Quincey (ankle), Stephen Weiss (groin – IR)
SABRES
Matt Moulson – Tyler Ennis – Drew Stafford
Marcus Foligno – Cody Hodgson – Chris Stewart
Torrey Mitchell – Zemgus Girgensons – Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers – Cody McCormick – Brian Flynn
Andre Benoit – Rasmus Ristolainen
Scratched: Nikita Zadorov, Andrej Meszaros
Injured: Patrick Kaleta (jaw – IR)
Status report: The Sabres have been shut out five times this season, each coming in the past eight games. The Sabres have scored 12 goals in 12 games and have a minus-28 goal differential.
Who’s hot: Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk has scored in three straight games and has four goals and two assists during that streak. Gustav Nyquist leads the team with seven goals and had two against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.
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