The offseason brought significant improvements to the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, and now they meet in Buffalo on Monday night. Read on for our Red Wings-Sabres picks.
After a busy offseason of adding veteran free agents to support their young core, the Red Wings have a 4-2-2 record. Former Chicago Blackhawks winger Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation, leading the Red Wings with 11 points. Detroit's only two regulation losses have come against the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, two of the top teams in the league.
Buffalo's improvement was geared more toward the growth of internal options. Defenseman Owen Power, along with wingers Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka, injected skilled young talent into the Sabres' lineup. Is this group ready to be a playoff contender now? The Sabres are 5-3 and more competitive than they have been in a long time.
Both teams have some injuries. Detroit is missing left winger Tyler Bertuzzi and Buffalo's blue line has been hit hard recently, with Mattias Samuelsson, Henri Jokiharju, and Ilya Lyubushkin all out of action.