Red Wings looking for season sweep against Buffalo

This afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings will travel to the snowy city of Buffalo to visit the Sabres. Fresh off a convincing 4-0 victory over Buffalo on Saturday, the Red Wings look for a sweep of the four game season series.

Game time is 1:00 PM ET at KeyBank Center in Buffalo New York.

Players Focus: Two Scoring Lines

The Detroit Red Wings finally have two lines that can contribute on offense. On Saturday, Tyler Bertuzzi was reunited with junior teammates Robby Fabbri and Pius Suter while Vladislav Namestnikov moved into Bertuzzi’s slot with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. The two lines contributed all four goals in a 4-0 shutout against Buffalo.

Larkin is clearly the leader of the #1 unit. He recently surpassed one year as team captain and has routinely been the Red Wings top player. This season, Larkin leads Detroit with 34 points in 34 games including 16 goals. Raymond is the NHL’s top scoring rookie.

Through 39 games, Raymond leads the Red Wings with 21 assists and is currently second in team scoring with 32 points. Namestnikov has been a pleasant surprise for Detroit. After a miserable first season with the Red Wings, Namestnikov is currently sixth in team scoring with 10 goals and 19 points. By early February this line will likely have Jakub Vrana patrolling the wing in place of Namestnikov. Vrana has been injured all season and is currently back on the ice.

The addition of Bertuzzi to the Suter/Fabbri line is the shot in the arm that the #2 unit needed. When Bertuzzi is in the lineup, the Red Wings are a much harder team to play against. In 31 games, Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings with 18 goals and a +13 rating. Suter has 18 points and Fabbri has 16 so, a second line that can score will go a long way in helping a team that currently sits in the bottom third of the NHL with 105 goals scored.

Red Wings Notes

Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 17-17-5 record
The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 15.2%, PK 78.7%
Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 34 points in 34 games
Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings with 18 goals in 31 games
Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond lead the Red Wings with 21 assists each
Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 24 points in 39 games
Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +13 rating
Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has an 11-10-4 record, 2.73 GAA, and .918 SV% in 27 games
After recording five points in three games, Tyler Bertuzzi has been named Player of the Week

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Vladislav Namestnikov – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Tyler Bertuzzi

Filip Zadina – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Givani Smith – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alax Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Not in lineup

Riley Barber (lower body), Carter Rowney (undisclosed), Jordan Oesterle (healthy)

Sabres Notes

Buffalo are currently 6th in the Atlantic Division with a 11-20-6 record
The Sabres special teams are currently ranked 21st in the NHL, PP 19.2%, PK 77.9%
Kyle Okposo and Tage Thompson lead Buffalo with 23 points each
Jeff Skinner leads the Sabres with 13 goals in 35 games
Okposo and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin lead Buffalo with 16 assists each
Mark Jankowski leads the Sabres with a +4 rating
Goaltender Aaron Dell is expected to start and has a 1-5-0 record, 3.89 GAA, and .889 SV% in 9 games
Center Peyton Krebs will return after missing four games after being placed in COVID-19 protocol