Sabres vs. Red Wings | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

The Buffalo Sabres will be put to the test against one of the league’s hottest early-season teams when the Detroit Red Wings visit KeyBank Center on Wednesday.

Detroit sits atop the Atlantic Division at 5-1-0 to begin the season, currently riding a five-game winning streak after dropping its season opener against Montreal. The group has been driven by known commodities (captain Dylan Larkin) and surprising contributors (rookie forward Emmitt Finnie) alike.

It will be another opportunity for the Sabres, who bounced back from an 0-3 start with division wins against Ottawa and Florida before losing a competitive game in Montreal on Monday.

Zach Benson continued his strong start in the loss to the Canadiens, registering a career-high seven shots while tallying an assist to extend his point streak to three games. He’s one of three players in franchise history to have six assists or more in his first three games of a season, joining Jack Eichel and Thomas Vanek.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

How to watch

TV (national): TNT

Streaming: HBO Max

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Projected lineup (updated 12 p.m.)

Here are the Sabres' lines from Wednesday's morning skate:

Ellis debuts in net

Goaltender Colten Ellis, the 25-year-old claimed off waivers from St. Louis earlier this month, is expected to make his NHL debut in net for Buffalo. He'll have many guests in attendance, including his immediate family and fiancee.

"Something I’ve worked for my whole life, so there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into this moment," Ellis said. "Just happy that I get to live the dream that I’ve been dreaming, since I started skating, tonight. So, just looking forward to it; just gonna take it all in.

"At the end of the day, (every) time I step on the ice, I want to win a hockey game, so that part of the game doesn’t change."

Ellis has served as Alex Lyon's backup while the veteran started each of Buffalo's first six games. Though his last game action came nearly three weeks ago in the preseason with the Blues, Ellis is confident all the morning skates and practices have him ready to go Wednesday.

Ostlund slots in

A healthy scratch Monday after being recalled from Rochester, forward Noah Ostlund is expected to enter the lineup versus Detroit; he centered Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn during the morning skate. The 21-year-old tallied 36 points (19+17) in 45 regular season games with the Amerks last season before an eight-game debut in Buffalo.

"I think young guys that step in the lineup, especially the first 10 games maybe, a lot of times they want to make sure they don’t hurt the team before they help them," coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think last year when he stepped in, the position we were in, he played a really good defensive game, and we didn’t see the offensive capabilities."

Scouting the Red Wings

Larkin was named NHL First Star of the Week on Monday after scoring four goals and nine points in Detroit’s last four wins, including a four-point effort in the team’s most recent victory against Edmonton on Saturday.

Finnie – a seventh-round draft pick in 2023 who played his way onto the NHL roster in training camp – has opened the season playing on Larkin’s wing, tallying five points (2+3) while applying a hard-nosed, two-way game.

Detroit has outscored opponents 7-1 with Larkin and Finnie on the ice at 5-on-5 this season. The duo is now joined by last year’s leading scorer in Lucas Raymond, who missed three games with an injury.

The Red Wings will be without another key forward in Patrick Kane, who is out for at least the next two games with an upper-body injury.