SABRES (20-14-4) at STARS (25-7-7)
8 p.m. ET; Victory+, MSG-B
Sabres projected lineup
Peyton Krebs -- Tage Thompson -- Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund -- Josh Norris -- Alex Tuch
Zach Benson -- Ryan McLeod -- Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway -- Josh Dunne -- Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson -- Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power -- Michael Kesselring
Bowen Byram -- Zach Metsa
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Colten Ellis
Scratched: Isak Rosen, Jacob Bryson
Injured: Tyson Kozak (upper body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jason Zucker (upper and lower body), Jiri Kulich (blood clot), Justin Danforth (lower body), Alex Lyon (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Sam Steel -- Wyatt Johnston -- Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Mavrik Bourque
Justin Hryckowian -- Matt Duchene -- Jamie Benn
Oskar Back -- Radek Faksa -- Colin Blackwell
Esa Lindell -- Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley -- Nils Lundkvist
Ilya Lyubushkin -- Alexander Petrovic
Casey DeSmith
Jake Oettinger
Scratched: Kyle Capobianco, Adam Erne
Injured: Tyler Seguin (ACL), Lian Bichsel (lower body)
Status report
The Sabres held an optional morning skate Wednesday. ... Lyon has returned to Buffalo for further examination after being injured late in a 4-2 win at the St. Louis Blues on Monday; the goalie did not practice Tuesday and there is no timeline for his return. … Ellis is expected to be activated from injured reserve Wednesday to back up Luukkonen; Ellis has not played since sustaining a concussion Dec. 9. … Forward Nathan Bastian was assigned to Texas of the American Hockey League on Tuesday on a conditioning assignment. … Lyubushkin returns to the lineup after missing a 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday because of an illness.
