Sabres at Stars preview

SABRES (21-19-7) at STARS (27-15-4)
8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Stars ended a four-game road trip (3-1-0) with a 3-2 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. They've outscored opponents 24-12 in their past eight while allowing two goals or fewer in each.
Sabres center Jack Eichel has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in an eight-game point streak, tied with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner and Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane for the longest active streak in the NHL.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart has scored 16 goals in 47 games, putting him on pace for an NHL career-high 28.
Stars defenseman Esa Lindell has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past seven games, including the game-winning goal Tuesday.

They said it

"It's a whole different ballgame than three months ago when we played them. They're second in the Western Conference and on a very high pace. We're going to be tested and we need to play our best game tonight here, for sure." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger
"They beat us 4-0 and we're well aware of that. We didn't play very well, and we've noticed that they have won their past couple of games. Their power play is on fire again, which it was when we played them early in the year. They're playing hard. They know where they are in the standings and you give them a lot of credit. They're going to come at us tonight." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness

Sabres projected lineup

Zemgus Girgensons -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Marcus Johansson -- Michael Frolik
Rasmus Asplund -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Jimmy Vesey -- Curtis Lazar -- Evan Rodrigues
Rasmus Dahlin -- Brandon Montour
Jake McCabe -- Henri Jokiharju
Lawrence Pilut -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Zach Bogosian, Scott Wilson, Colin Miller
Injured: Victor Olofsson (lower body), Jeff Skinner (upper body), Tage Thompson (shoulder surgery), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body)

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski -- Joel Kiviranta
Andrew Cogliano -- Jason Dickinson -- Blake Comeau
Denis Gurianov -- Justin Dowling -- Corey Perry
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera -- Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Taylor Fedun
Injured:Mattias Janmark (illness), Radek Faksa (upper body), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Status report

The Sabres will skate 12 forwards and seven defensemen during warmups. … Perry returns to after a five-game suspension. … Faksa, a forward, is day to day. … Janmark missed the morning skate. The forward will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

The Sabres are 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) on the power play in their past five games. … Bishop is 12-1-1 with a 1.55 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in 14 games against Buffalo. … Dallas has won seven straight against Buffalo at American Airlines Center.