Sabres at Blue Jackets preview

SABRES (3-5-2) at BLUE JACKETS (5-3-0)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

The Sabres, who defeated the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 on Tuesday, have won back-to-back games after a 1-5-2 start, and are 2-0-1 in their past three road games.
The Blue Jackets have lost two straight to begin a four-game homestand. This will be the first game without fourth-line center Lukas Sedlak since he injured his ankle during practice Monday. He will be out six weeks. Zac Dalpe may move from wing to center.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jason Pominville has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past eight games. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 10 games this season; he had 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) in 78 games last season.
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin leads Columbus in scoring with nine points (one goal, eight assists), including six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games. He had 31 goals in 82 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season.

They said it

"We know Columbus is waiting for us now. They've lost two in a row. They haven't played since Saturday so I'm sure they're going to be ready." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"We don't want him to hold back, even though a mistake may have been made in an odd-man rush. We want him to go. So I don't even call him a defenseman anymore." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, describing the role of defenseman Zach Werenski as a "rover"

Sabres projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Jack Eichel -- Kyle Okposo
Benoit Pouliot -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Jason Pominville
Jordan Nolan - Sam Reinhart -- Justin Bailey
Matt Moulson -- Johan Larsson -- Seth Griffith
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe --
Taylor Fedun
Victor Antipin -- Matt Tennyson
Chad Johnson
Robin Lehner
Scratched:Zach Redmond](https://www.nhl.com/player/zach-redmond-8474743?season=20172018)
Injured: Nathan Beaulieu (upper body), Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), Josh Gorges (lower body), Jacob Josefson (lower body), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Evan Rodrigues (hand), Justin Falk (undisclosed)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Nick Foligno -- Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner -- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Zac Dalpe -- Sonny Milano
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- David Savard
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Markus Hannikainen, Scott Harrington
Injured: Gabriel Carlsson (upper body), Lukas Sedlak (ankle)

Status report

Johnson may start after Lehner made 32 saves against the Red Wings. … Hannikainen was recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League but is not expected to play.

Stat pack

Kane has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past eight games against the Blue Jackets. Eichel has six points (two goals, four assists) in six games against the Blue Jackets. … The Blue Jackets are last in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 43.2 and 29th on the power play at 9.1 percent (2 of 22).