Red Wings look to keep winning streak alive with road game against Sabers – Hockey Writer – Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings return to action after missing one game since Sunday’s (October 19) victory over the Edmonton Oilers. They head to Buffalo to take on a struggling but dangerous Sabers team hoping to get back on track. Coming into the game, the Sabers had won two of their last three games.

Projection line

red wing

Emmet Finney – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Marco Casper – Michael Brandsager Nygard
James van Riemsdyk – Andrew Cope – Michael Rasmussen
Mason Appleton – JT Compher – Jonatan Berggren

Ben Chiarot-Moritz Seider
Simon Edwinson-Axel Sandin-Pelica
Albert Johnson – Jacob Bernard Doak

John Gibson
Cam Talbot

saber

Zach Benson – Jiri Kulic – Tachi Thompson
Josh Doan – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tucci
Jason Zucker – Noah Ostlund – Jack Quinn
Peyton Krebs-Tyson Kosak-Marenstein

Rasmus Dahlin as Bowen Byram
Owen Ball as Mattias Samuelsson
Zach Mesa-Connor Timmins

Colten Ellis
Alex Lyon

2024-25 competition

• October 26, 2024 – 5-3 Sabers win
• November 2, 2024 – 2-1 Red Wings win
• December 9, 2024 – 6-5 Red Wings win in shootout
• March 12, 2025 – Red Wings win 7-3

The Red Wings had great success against the Sabers last season, winning three of four games between the two Atlantic Division rivals. They were led by Lucas Raymond (five points), Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seidel (four points each). Ten players scored against the Sabers, with the entire roster sharing the wealth. For the Sabers, seniors Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson led the offense with four points. They’re a lot like the Red Wings in that the offense is spread out over the season series.

team leader

red wing

Goals: Dylan Larkin – five goals
Assists: Alex DeBrincat/Dylan Larkin – six assists
Score: Dylan Larkin – 11 points

saber

Goals: Jason Zucker – three goals
Assists: Zach Benson – six assists
Score: Zach Benson – six points

X factors/precautions

Colten Ellis makes first NHL start

Tonight, the Red Wings will face a netminder making his first career NHL start, with the Sabers starting Colten Ellis. As a team that struggles to give opponents shots (33.5 per game), the Red Wings can take advantage of this. Getting shots on Ellis early and getting them to work in high-danger areas could get the Red Wings off to a fast start. On the other hand, if they can’t break down the Sabers defense early and get Ellis settled, it could lead to a tight game. With the firepower and offense the Red Wings have, they should have success in the offensive zone.

Contains Tachi Thompson

While Thompson has yet to hit the ground running in terms of goalscoring this season, he has enough skills and potential to put himself on the right track on any given night. He has tormented the Red Wings during his career, scoring 23 points in 19 games. Confining him will undoubtedly be a priority for the Red Wings defense heading into tonight’s game. Thompson has struggled to get himself into any high-danger areas this season, and Moritz Seidel or Simon Edwinson will likely be tasked with battling him to contain him. If the Red Wings want to succeed tonight, shutting down the 44-goal scorer last season will be one of the most important ways to ensure they extend their winning streak to six.

Special teams showdown

The Red Wings and Sabers have two of the top penalty-killing units in the league. Both teams have a winning percentage above 90%, with the Sabers taking far more penalties than the Red Wings so far. The strong play has been solid through the first six games for the Red Wings, scoring 22.2 percent of the time, but if the Sabers find themselves with a personnel advantage, they’ll certainly challenge that. Players like Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat will be expected to break out the Sabres’ penalty kill. With Patrick Kane once again out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, someone will need to step up in his absence.

Related: Red Wing Weekly #2 – Across the Atlantic

The Sabers, on the other hand, are a bit better than the Red Wings, scoring on 26.3 percent of their possessions, and if the Red Wings find themselves in penalty trouble, it’s going to be a tough task to slow them down, and they’ve done a good job of avoiding shootouts for much of the season. Either way, both teams’ special teams units could end up being one of the game’s biggest unknowns.

The Red Wings win if…

Simply put, if the Red Wings continue to play like they did after losing their first game to the Montreal Canadiens, they should win this game. Playing a good defensive game and getting solid goaltending against a team that has scoring threats throughout the lineup (even if they haven’t lived up to expectations yet) will go a long way in getting a road win tonight. Todd McClellan will likely make it a point to his team before tonight’s game to keep Ellis busy and put pressure on a Sabers team that struggles to keep the puck off the ice as they spend 43.3 percent of the game in possession, ranking 30th in the league.

As the Red Wings have had so far, getting help from the bottom six of the lineup will be key against the Sabers, who also have a solid bottom six. Rolling all four defensive lines and taking advantage of the opportunities they get should help lead the Red Wings to another victory.

Red Wings vs Sabers

While the Sabers haven’t had the best start to the 2025-26 regular season, they have shown the ability to light up the scoreboard, like they did on Oct. 15 against the Ottawa Senators. The Red Wings may have their hands full tonight, but they’ll be well rested and ready to take on one of their Atlantic Division rivals.