Sabres at Blue Jackets preview

SABRES (24-18-6) at BLUE JACKETS (28-17-3)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets, who have lost two straight following a four-game winning streak, have successfully killed 23 consecutive penalties dating back to a 6-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 31.
The Sabres, 1-4-0 in their past five games and 3-7-1 in their past 11, are 1-for-22 on the power play in their past eight games.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 24 games against Columbus.
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"I would expect they're going to try to establish their forecheck. That's a really big strength of their team, and we're going to have to manage the puck as they transition really well." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley scouting the Blue Jackets
"This is the push now. You want to put yourself in a really good position. It's head down and really get to work and push to the playoffs." -- Blue Jackets forward Riley Nash

Sabres projected lineup

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

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Alex Wennberg -- Josh Anderson
Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Lukas Sedlak -- Anthony Duclair
Markus Hannikainen -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Riley Nash
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Dean Kukan
Injured: Boone Jenner (undisclosed)

Status report

Hunwick replaces Pilut. … Hannikainen (elbow) returns after missing six games. … Jenner practiced Monday but did not take part in the morning skate Tuesday.

Stat pack

Eichel has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past two games after no points in his previous five. … Dubois has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games. … Atkinson has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.