Stars at Sabres preview

STARS (1-4-1) at SABRES (4-0-1)
3 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-SW, NHL.TV

Buffalo, which is 4-0-1 following a shootout win against the Florida Panthers on Friday, went 6-0-2 to start the 2008-09 season.
The Stars are playing the first of a four-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents. Their lone win this season came at Washington on Tuesday.
Dallas, which shut out the Sabres in both games last season, has won five in a row against Buffalo and is 8-1-0 in the past nine games against them.

Players to watch

Stars forward Roope Hintz, who scored two goals at Buffalo last season, leads Dallas with five points (four goals, one assist) and is the only player to have scored more than one goal.
Sabres center Jack Eichel leads the team with seven points (three goals, four assists).

They said it

"This is a big road trip for us. You don't want to say it's a playoff game but everyone in here, including myself, needs to have a playoff mentality going on this road trip." -- Stars forward Tyler Seguin
"Maintaining possession and breaking out under pressure is the test of a strong defenseman in the National Hockey League. It's a tough test; teams come hard and fast, especially when they're behind, as we've had a few times lately. Henri's been good at solving pressure, which is something quite impressive at his age." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger on 20-year-old defenseman Henri Jokiharju

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski
Jason Dickinson -- Radek Faksa -- Joel L'Esperance
Andrew Cogliano -- Rhett Gardner -- Nick Caamano
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Andrej Sekera
Jamie Oleksiak -- Joel Hanley
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Justin Dowling, Taylor Fedun
Injured: Corey Perry (foot), Blake Comeau (lower body), Roman Polak (upper body), Martin Hanzal (back), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Sabres projected lineup

Victor Olofsson -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Marcus Johansson -- Vladimir Sobotka
Jimmy Vesey -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Evan Rodrigues
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin -- Colin Miller
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -- Henri Jokiharju
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: John Gilmour, Curtis Lazar
Injured: Conor Sheary (upper body), Brandon Montour (hand), Zach Bogosian (hip)

Status report

Lazar was called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Sunday but is not expected to play against Dallas. … The Stars did not practice before flying to Buffalo on Sunday.

Stat pack

The Sabres have 15 players who each have at least one point through the first five games. … Skinner needs one assist to reach 200 in the NHL. … Bishop, who is expected to get the start, has won 12 straight games against the Sabres, which is tied for the longest active winning streak by an NHL goalie against a single opponent (Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne, against the Edmonton Oilers). … The Stars are 1-for-20 on the power play.