Red Wings at Sabres preview
Detroit outscored 37-12 in nine-game winless streak; Johansson to make first NHL start for Buffalo
by Heather Engel / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
RED WINGS (12-38-4) at SABRES (23-23-7)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV
The Game
Jonas Johansson will start his first NHL game for the Buffalo Sabres when they play the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
The 24-year-old goalie made his NHL debut with 13 saves in relief of Carter Hutton in a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. He's 13-3-3 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 20 games for Rochester of the American Hockey League this season.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
The Red Wings have been shut out in two straight games and are winless in their past nine (0-8-1) while being outscored 37-12.
Players to watch
Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games.
Sabres center Jack Eichel has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past 14 games, including three goals and one assist in a four-game point streak.
They said it
"Just play your game. Playing his game is what got him the opportunity to get called up, so come in and play your game. He seems to be a fairly unflappable young guy, pretty easygoing. Doesn't seem like much affects him, doesn't seem to get too nervous." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on defenseman Gustav Lindstrom
"I feel like if I would look at it from the outside, it would feel really huge, and it does feel big. But when you're in the middle of it, I try to focus on it like it's any game. It feels great." -- Sabres goalie Jonas Johansson
Red Wings projected lineup
Darren Helm -- Dylan Larkin -- Robby Fabbri
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Valtteri Filppula -- Justin Abdelkader
Taro Hirose -- Luke Glendening -- Andreas Athanasiou
Givani Smith -- Christoffer Ehn -- Adam Erne
Patrik Nemeth -- Alex Biega
Trevor Daley -- Gustav Lindstrom
Dennis Cholowski -- Filip Hronek
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Jonathan Ericsson, Madison Bowey
Injured: Danny DeKeyser (back), Anthony Mantha (upper body), Filip Zadina (lower body), Mike Green (finger), Frans Nielsen (upper body)
Sabres projected lineup
Jimmy Vesey -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Evan Rodrigues -- Rasmus Asplund
Conor Sheary -- Marcus Johansson -- Michael Frolik
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Scott Wilson
Lawrence Pilut -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Colin Miller -- Henri Jokiharju
Jake McCabe -- Brandon Montour
Jonas Johansson
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Zach Bogosian
Injured: Curtis Lazar (illness), Rasmus Dahlin (upper body), Kyle Okposo (upper body), Linus Ullmark (lower body), Victor Olofsson (lower body), Tage Thompson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body)
Status report
Lazar, a forward, is a game-time decision. … The Sabres will warm up with 13 forwards before deciding on a lineup. … Lindstrom will make his NHL debut for the Red Wings.
Stat pack
Fabbri is two points from 100 in the NHL. … Reinhart has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 12 games.