Sabres at Canucks preview

SABRES (24-17-6) at CANUCKS (21-21-6)
10 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Dahlin, who has six points (one goal, five assists) in a five-game point streak, is tied with Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (Dec. 1-8, 2014), Sabres coach Phil Housley (Feb. 12-20, 1983), and Hall of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr, who did it twice (Nov. 19-26, 1966 and Jan. 26-Feb. 4, 1967).
Goalie Linus Ullmark will make his second straight start for the Sabres, who are 3-6-1 in their past 10 games.
Center Elias Pettersson will miss his fifth straight game for the Canucks with a sprained right knee. Goalie Thatcher Demko will make his season debut and second NHL start for Vancouver, 1-2-2 in its past five games.

Players to watch

Sabres center Buffalo Jack Eichel scored the winning goal and had an assist in a 4-3 overtime victory at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday after having no points in his previous five games.
Canucks center Bo Horvat, who has two assists in his past eight games, is two points shy of 200 in the NHL.

They said it

"Just for the record, I hope he breaks it. He's been playing really good, solid hockey lately, especially these past five games, just contributing in all areas, whether it's in the d-zone, making that good breakout pass, joining the rush, adding to the rush or leading the rush." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley on defenseman Rasmus Dahlin
"It is a little scary. You kind of have to walk off and your leg goes numb and you can't put any weight on it but once it settled down it felt ready." -- Canucks center Bo Horvat on a charley horse sustained against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday that kept him off the ice Thursday

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Tage Thompson
Vladimir Sobotka -- Evan Rodrigues -- Jason Pominville
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Lawrence Pilut -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -- Jake McCabe
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Matt Hunwick, Remi Elie, Nathan Beaulieu
Injured: Casey Nelson (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Antoine Roussel -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Sven Baertschi -- Brandon Sutter -- Jake Virtanen
Tim Schaller -- Markus Granlund -- Josh Leivo
Loui Eriksson -- Jay Beagle -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton -- Troy Stecher
Derrick Pouliot -- Erik Gudbranson
Thatcher Demko
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Alex Biega, Nikolay Goldobin, Tanner Kero
Injured: Elias Pettersson (knee)

Status report

Housley said Skinner was a game-time decision after a brief absence against Calgary because of an undisclosed injury, but Skinner skated Friday and said he will play. … Larsson will play his 300th NHL game.

Stat pack

Eichel is the fifth player in Sabres history to record at least 50 points in each of his first four seasons, joining Housley, Rick Martin, Gilbert Perreault and Christian Ruuttu.