Same Lineup for Red Wings as Detroit Prepares for "Desperate ...

Tonight in Buffalo, the Detroit Red Wings (10-14-3) will look to snap a five-game losing streak when they take on the Sabres (11-13-3) at KeyBank Center.  With a regulation victory, the Red Wings could leapfrog Detroit for 14th place (i.e. third from last) in the Eastern Conference.  It's not much, but salvaging the season has to start somewhere.  By way of contextualizing tonight's game, coach Derek Lalonde said, "Both teams, of course, I think would be desperate to try to get some points."

Lalonde told reporters this morning that he would be deploying the "same lineup as we had on Saturday," explaining that he was "obviously happy with Ville [Husso]'s game and despite the 2–1 loss, pretty good team game, so we're going back with the same lineup."  That means Christian Fischer and Albert Johansson would remain healthy scratches, while Sebastian Cossa would remain Husso's back-up, still awaiting his first NHL start.  While Lalonde said he would be sticking with the same 20 skaters, he did showcase a different arrangement of his forward lines at yesterday's practice:

With regard to his goaltending decision, Lalonde said of Husso, "I just think again, he's played well, and over the last four games, he hasn't had a lot of volume, which is a positive.  Of course, there'd be some concern; it's five games in 10 days, but we think he'll be good tonight."  Of Cossa, Lalonde described himself as "very confident in Sebastian," saying that he was "maybe even an option on Thursday" before adding, "Both goalies that are out [Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot] did skate yesterday, and there were some positives there, so we hope to have maybe one of them available for Thursday, but we'll see how the week plays out."

The two sides have split the season series to date, with the Sabres winning a 5–3 game on Oct. 26 in Buffalo and the Red Wings claiming a 2–1 win Nov. 2 back home at Little Caesars Arena.

Tonight's game, a 7 PM scheduled puck drop, will be on its usual broadcast homes—FanDuel Sports Network Detroit for TV & streaming in the market, ESPN+/Hulu to watch out-of-market, and 97.1 The Ticket for radio.

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