Updates
Jeff Blashill says no further update on Red Wings C Dylan Larkin (away for personal reasons).
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) November 5, 2021
Granato said no decision yet on which goalie will start tonight. Will be Tokarski or Dell.
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) November 6, 2021
Craig Anderson is day-to-day. Still being evaluated for an upper-body injury. Still unclear when Mittelstadt can return.
Granato said the Sabres are holding out Olofsson as a precaution. Expect him to be full-go within the next few days.
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) November 6, 2021
Alex Tuch is here.
Excited to be in Buffalo, to say the least. Reciting the Sabres players from the past that he loved watching. pic.twitter.com/QgVIixsWSF
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) November 6, 2021
Reminder that Tuch is on IR and won’t be playing yet.
Red Wings Lines
Tyler Bertuzzi – Pius Suter – Lucas Raymond
Filip Zadina – Joe Veleno – Robby Fabbri
Vlad Namestnikov – Mitchell Stephens – Sam Gagner
Givani Smith – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne
Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek
Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider
Jordan Oesterle – Troy Stecher
Sabres Lines
Drake Caggiula – Dylan Cozens – Vinni Hinostroza
Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Rasmus Asplund
Zemgus Girgensons – Cody Eakin – Kyle Okposo
Anders Bjork – Arttu Ruotsalainen – John Hayden
Rasmus Dahlin – Will Butcher
Jacob Bryson – Colin Miller
Robert Hagg – Mark Pysyk
Dustin Tokarski
Aaron Dell
Three Keys to the Game
Either Hit the Brakes or Hit the Gas
The biggest difference between the Wings that were fun a week ago and the Wings now that are less fun is skill level, but the second-biggest is how assertive they are. Wings have been doing more poke-and-hope and more uncertain plays. Sometimes they hold onto the puck too long for bad reasons, others they get rid of it too quickly. Everything is out of sync. Commit to either playing fast or slow but quit this in-between stuff.
Quit Taking the Lanes that are Given
There’s a reason defenders are happy to give you a lane between the circles and the boards when you’re actually able to enter the zone with possession: it’s so they can angle you off meekly to the half-wall. Lucas Raymond and Filip Zadina were doing a good job of playing that entry farther from the wall, which makes it harder to get pinched and opens room for cross-ice passes, but lately nobody has been challenging for those narrow margins.
Keep your Sticks on the Ice
Know what makes it hard to get rebounds in front? Having your stick at your waist. Yeah, I gather that it’s hard to keep great position in the dangerous areas of the ice because other people are messing with you. Mess back.
