The Detroit Red Wings host Red Hot Buffalo Sabres tonight in Motown

The Detroit Red Wings will look to rebound tonight as they host the red-hot Buffalo Sabres at Little Ceasars Arena.

The Buffalo Sabres march into Detroit currently playing as the hottest team in the NHL. They are enjoying an eight-game winning streak. A goaltender I had hoped the Detroit Red Wings considered in the offseason over Bernier is Carter Hutton. He has won seven starts in a row.

Hutton is expected to have the evening off in favor of Linus Ullmark. Ullmark has been no slouch himself this season recording a 4-0-1 record on the season with a 2.65 goals against average, and a 922 save percentage.

Jimmy Howard will return back between the pipes tonight. I was a bit surprised Howard didn’t play against the Caps yesterday, but they were clearing saving him to match up against Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner.

More from Octopus Thrower

Skinner was dealt to Buffalo from Carolina this summer, all that he has done so far is lead the league in goals with 17. Skinner and Eichel will be a tough matchup for Green and Daley. Jimmy Howard once again will have to be the best player on the ice if the Wings have a chance tonight.

Andreas Athanasiou has just been unbelievable of late. He has scored the last three goals for the Detroit Red Wings. He is coming into his own, and it has been awe-inspiring and fun to watch him grow into an impact player for the club during the season. AA has 5 points in his last five games.

Look for Larkin to work extremely hard to get back on the scoresheet tonight. He has gone pointless in his last 2 games. He has 2 points in his previous 5. He and Mantha are still trying to create chemistry with Abby and whoever else takes shifts with them. It has been mostly Abby, but they like to roll Bertuzzi and AA with Mantha and Larkin as well. I expect Vanek to get a shift or two now that he has played in a couple of games since returning from an injury.

The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup;

Justin Abdelkader – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha

Andreas Athanasiou – Frans Nielsen – Gustav Nyquist

Michael Rasmussen – Luke Glendening – Tyler Bertuzzi

Thomas Vanek – Jacob de La Rose– Christoffer Ehn

Trevor Daley – Mike Green

Dennis Cholowski – Niklas Kronwall

Danny DeKeyser – Nick Jensen

Jimmy Howard

Jonathan Bernier