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Red Wings, Sabres try to get something going (Dec 27, 2016)
The Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres are the bottom two teams in the Atlantic Division, and the Red Wings (15-5-4) host the Sabres (12-13-8) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit, seventh in the Atlantic Division, has made the playoffs 25 consecutive seasons, but it is seven points and four teams out of the final Atlantic Division playoff spot this season.
At the moment, it appears that both Eastern Conference wild-card teams will come out of the Metropolitan Division.
"I'm hoping going into the Christmas break, it's a time to get flushed, get away from the game a little bit," general manager Ken Holland told mlive.com. "I understand that starting tomorrow ... you don't have 48 games. In the next 20-25 games, we need to play our way back into it because as the year goes along every organization has got to make decisions.
"Obviously, the trade deadline dictates decisions -- buy, sell or stand pat. So, it's not like you can wait until the last 10 or 15 games and all the sudden you're going to put something together. We all understand the next 20-25 games are going to be really critical in determining how this season plays out for us."
Injuries are a major factor for the Red Wings.
Goalie Jimmy Howard is out four to six weeks with a mild MCL sprain suffered last Tuesday in a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay. This is Howard's second stint on injured reserve. He missed two weeks when he injured his groin Nov. 25 in New Jersey.
The Red Wings may get defenseman Brendan Smith (out since Nov. 26, with a sprained right MCL) back Tuesday but will still be without center Darren Helm (sidelined with a dislocated left shoulder since Nov. 15), left winger Justin Abdelkader (a sprained right MCL suffered Dec. 1) and defenseman Mike Green (an upper-body injury sustained Dec. 17).
Also defenseman Alexey Marchenko (shoulder) and forward Tyler Bertuzzi (high ankle sprain on Nov. 26) remain out.
Meanwhile, the Sabres are last in the Atlantic Division
Buffalo went 0-2-2 in the last four games and scored just one goal in three of them.
"It's really disappointing," captain Brian Gionta told the Buffalo News. "We continue to try to be a different team than we need to be to be successful. We need to be direct. We need to be north with the puck. We need to support it with speed.
"We generate a lot from our forecheck. We generate a lot from working teams down low in the offensive zone. That's how we get a lot of our opportunities. We're not a neutral-zone team that creates chances out there. When we get fancy, we turn pucks over and it's odd-man rushes."
The Sabres are tied for the fewest points in the Eastern Conference with the New York Islanders, a team that beat Buffalo 5-1 on Friday.
According to the stats, there were six giveaways by the Sabres and 17 takeaways by the Islanders.
"I don't know how many odd-man rushes they had," Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons said. "If we figure out puck management, we'll be better."
