Stars look to create separation in playoff chase at Sabres

The Dallas Stars have a chance to create a little separation in the playoff race tonight when they take on the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center (6 p.m. CT; FS-SW+; KTCK) to open a two-game road trip.
The three teams right behind the Stars (35-28-5-75 points) in the wild-card race -- Minnesota, Arizona, and Colorado -- all lost in regulation Monday night, so the Stars can extend their lead over at least two of them with points tonight. Arizona plays tonight at St. Louis, whom the Stars are chasing for third place in the Central Division, so Dallas has a chance to pick up some points on of those teams with a win tonight in Buffalo.

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The Stars will make a couple of lineup changes for tonight's game. Valeri Nichushkin will come in at forward and Brett Ritchie will come out, and Jamie Oleksiak comes in on defense for Taylor Fedun who will sit as a healthy scratch.
"It's mostly just fresh bodies, opportunity to get people back in," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "We have four (games) in six (nights) coming … so there's going to be players coming in and out to stay fresh."

The forward lines are expected to look like what Montgomery rolled out in practice on Monday with Tyler Seguin centering Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov, and Jamie Benn playing left wing on a line with Joel L'Esperance at center and Jason Spezza at right wing. Radek Faksa will center Mattias Janmark and Blake Comeau and Nichushkin will skate on a line with Jason Dickinson and Andrew Cogliano.
The expected defense pairs are Esa Lindell-John Klingberg; Miro Heiskanen-Roman Polak; Oleksiak-Ben Lovejoy. Julius Honka will join Fedun as a scratch on the blue line.
Ben Bishop will get the start in goal. Bishop is riding a two-game shutout streak and has not allowed a goal in his last 144:20. Bishop is 22-14-2 and ranks second in the league in both goals against average (2.13) and save percentage (.930) and shares third in shutouts (five).

Opposition watch: Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres (30-29-9-69 points) lost their fourth straight game, falling 3-0 to Colorado Sunday in Denver. It was the 10th loss in the last 12 games (2-8-2) for Buffalo, which is ten points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 14 games left on its schedule.
Center Jack Eichel, the team's top scorer, will miss tonight's game as he serves the first game of a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Colorado's Carl Soderberg in Sunday's game.
Buffalo has called up forward Alex Nylander, the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, from Rochester of the AHL. Linus Ullmark will get the start in goal.

Fast facts

Tonight's game

Who:Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres
Where:KeyBank Center
When: 6 p.m.
TV:Fox Sports Southwest Plus
Radio:The Ticket 1310-AM/96.7-FM

Stars projected lineup

Roope Hintz - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn - Joel L'Esperance - Jason Spezza
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Andrew Cogliano - Jason Dickinson - Valeri Nichushkin
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak - Ben Lovejoy
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Julius Honka, Brett Ritchie, Taylor Fedun
Injured: Mats Zuccarello (broken arm), Tyler Pitlick (wrist surgery), Martin Hanzal (back), Marc Methot (knee surgery), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner - Casey Mittelstadt - Jason Pominville
Tage Thompson - Vladimir Sobotka - Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary - Evan Rodrigues - Alexander Nylander
Scott Wilson - Johan Larsson - Kyle Okposo
Matt Hunwick - Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin - Zach Bogosian
Marco Scandella - Brandon Montour
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Zemgus Girgensons, Casey Nelson
Suspended:Jack Eichel
Injured:Jake McCabe (upper body)
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.