via Brian Hedger at NHL.com,

Season series: Following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 2, 2014, the Detroit Red Wings to erase a 3-1 deficit on Dec. 23, 2014 for a 6-3 victory. Detroit scored four times third period, including the final three on power plays.

Red Wings team scope: Injuries to Detroit's top two goalies have put 22-year old Petr Mrazek in the starting role with 25-year old Tom McCollum as his backup while Jimmy Howard is out. Howard was injured in the Red Wings' 3-1 loss at the Washington Capitals on Saturday. An MRI done Sunday showed a slight groin tear. Howard underwent an ultrasound Monday to further assess the injury. The Red Wings think Howard could miss up to four weeks, which takes him off the NHL All-Star roster. Detroit is about to play five games in eight days, which will test Mrazek. Veteran goalie Jonas Gustavsson remains out with a shoulder injury, and the Red Wings are without forwards Johan Franzen (possible concussion) and Tomas Jurco (back) and defenseman Jakub Kindl (elbow).

Sabres team scope: Buffalo has lost seven straight games and is 1-10-1 in the past 12 games. The Sabres are also struggling to stay healthy. Forward Cody McCormick is out indefinitely after a blood clot was discovered in his left calf. Already without captain Brian Gionta (upper body) and Marcus Foligno (hand), the Sabres recalled forwards Phil Varone and Zac Dalpe from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Monday. Each will likely play against the Red Wings with forward Chris Stewart (flu) questionable. If Stewart can't play, the Sabres might need to recall another forward from Rochester. Forward Torrey Mitchell (lower body) will return from an 11-game absence and coach Ted Nolan said goalie Michal Neuvirth will likely make his third start against the Red Wings this season. Prior to the game, Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek will have his number retired. Hasek spent the prime of his career in Buffalo before winning the Stanley Cup twice in Detroit (2002 and 2008).

	GP	RECORD	HOME	ROAD	L10	G/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	PIM/GP	S/GP	SA/GP	FO%
	42	22-11-9	13-4-6	9-7-3	5-4-1	2.76	2.36	24.2	86.3	8.3	30.6	27.0	54.4
	43	14-26-3	10-10-2	4-16-1	1-8-1	1.74	3.40	9.2	75.5	12.5	23.2	35.4	45.0

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight is the 123rd all-time meeting between DET and BUF
- Tonight is the 3rd of 4 meetings this season between DET and BUF, 2nd of 2 in BUF
- BUF won the teams’ 1st meeting this season 3-2 in a shootout (Tatar, Datsyuk scored for DET, Flynn, Stewart scored for BUF; Girgensons scored SO winner)
- DET won the 2nd meeting of the season series 6-3 at JLA (Weiss, DeKeyser, Zetterberg, Tatar (2) and Franzen scored for DET; Deslauriers, Stewart and Benoit scored for BUF)
- DET’s all-time record vs. BUF: 55-52-13-2
- DET’s all-time road record at BUF: 17-34-8-1
- DET is 13-1-2 in its last 16 games vs. BUF
- Jimmy Howard is 6-0-1 with a 1.46 GAA and a .941 SV% vs. BUF
- Pavel Datsyuk has 19 points (9-10-19) in 18 games vs. BUF
- Henrik Zetterberg has 10 points (2-8-10) in 14 games vs. BUF
- Darren Helm has 5 points (4-1-5) in 10 games vs. BUF
- Danny DeKeyser has 4 points (1-3-4) in 5 games vs. BUF
- Stephen Weiss has 24 points (9-15-24) in 38 games vs. BUF
- Johan Franzen has 10 points (5-5-10) in 14 games vs. BUF
- BUF’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: Chris Stewart (8-7-15 in 26 GP), Matt Moulson (5-3-8 in 9 GP), Cody Hodgson (3-3-6 in 10 GP) and Drew Stafford (1-5-6 in 11 GP)
- BUF G Michal Neuvirth played for the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers from 2006-08, posting a 31-12-5 record, a 2.38 GAA, a 0.931 SV% and 4 SOs and was a member of the team’s 2007 championship squad
- BUF head coach Ted Nolan was drafted by DET (5th round/78th ov./1978) and had 20 points (5-15-20) with DET from 1981-84
- BUF general manager Tim Murray spent the 1993-94 season as a scout for DET

ULLMAN IN SIGHT

Henrik Zetterberg currently stands two points behind Norm Ullman for 7th in DET history in scoring, after picking up a goal and an assist during his 800th NHL game on 1/7 at Calgary.

LEAGUE LEADERS

Abdelkader: T20th with 3 GWG
Datsyuk: T30th with 14 goals, T18th with 6 PPG, T20th with 3 GWG, 15th with 55.7 FO%, 22nd with 16.9 shooting %
Franzen: T20th with 3 GWG
Glendening: 12th with 56.1 FO%
Kronwall: 23rd with 23:51 TOI
Nyquist: T23rd with 15 goals, T6th with 8 PPG, T20th with 3 GWG
Tatar: T18th with 16 goals, T29th with 6 PPG, T6th with 4 GWG
Zetterberg: T14th with 26 assists, T26th with 36 points, T16th with 131 shots
TEAM: 6th in goals against/game (2.36), 3rd on power play (24.2%), 5th on penalty kill (86.3%), 11th in shots/game (30.6), T3rd in shots against/game (27.0)

RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Zetterberg had 2 points on 12/23 vs. BUF to give him his 749th and 750th NHL points
- Kronwall stands 18th in franchise history with 250 assists after passing Nick Libbet on 1/6 at EDM
- Franzen played in his 600th NHL game on 1/6 at EDM
- Zetterberg played in his 800th NHL game on 1/7 at CGY
- Weiss will play his 700th NHL game tonight
- Glendening is 2 games shy of 100
- Nyquist is 3 goals away from 50
- Babcock is 4 games away from 750 with DET
- Four more wins will give DET 2,800 as a franchise

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

January 13, 1971 – Five days after being named general manager, Ned Harkness trades Frank Mahovlich to Montreal for Mickey Redmond, Bill Collins and Guy Charron.

BUFFALO SABRES

TONIGHT’S GAME

RED WINGS at SABRES
This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Red Wings this season.
Next meeting: Sunday, Jan. 18 in Buffalo
Last meeting: Detroit defeated Buffalo, 6-3, in Detroit on Dec. 23
The Sabres are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Red Wings; 3-6-1 at home.
This is the 123rd game all-time between Buffalo and Detroit; Buffalo has a 54-52-16 series record.
The Sabres are 35-16-9 at home against the Red Wings all-time.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Tonight’s game kicks off a three-game home stand. After hosting the Flyers on Saturday, the Sabres will not play at First Niagara Center again until Feb. 5 vs. STL.
The Sabres are 3-1-1 all-time on the night of a Sabres jersey-retiring ceremony.
With a win tonight, the Sabres would have wins in consecutive home games against the Red Wings for the first time since they won three in a row from Dec. 28, 1988 to Dec. 26, 1989.
Chris Stewart leads all Sabres with 15 points (8+7) in 26 career games against the Red Wings.
Stewart and Andre Benoit have each scored in their last two meetings with Detroit.
Matt Moulson has eight points (5+3) in his last seven games against the Red Wings

THE DOMINATOR

Before tonight’s game, Dominik Hasek will become the seventh player to have his number retired by the Sabres, joining Gilbert Perreault (No. 11, 10/17/90), Rick Martin (No. 7, 11/15/95), Rene Robert (No. 14, 11/15/95), Tim Horton (No. 2, 1/5/96), Danny Gare (No. 18, 11/22/05) and Pat LaFontaine (No. 16, 3/3/06).
Some of Hasek’s most impressive stats:
Hasek has the best career goals against average (2.20) and save percentage (.922) among goaltenders with at least 250 career games played. His .926 save percentage with Buffalo is the best of any goalie with at least 120 games played with one team.
Hasek holds the five best single-season save percentage totals from the 1990s: .937 (1998-99), .932 (1997-98), .930 (1994-95), .930 (1993-94), .930 (1996-97).
Other than Hasek, the best single-season save percentage by any goalie in the 1990s was .927 (both Jeff Hackett and Martin Brodeur in 1996-97).
Hasek led the league in save percentage in six of his nine seasons with the Sabres (1993-94 to 1998-99).
No other goalie has led the league more than four times in their entire career (Patrick Roy, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1991- 92). (Save percentage has been tracked since early-1980s).
Hasek earned a shutout in 11.2 percent of his games with Sabres (and 23.5 percent of his wins with Sabres). He ranks second among expansion era (1968 onward) goaltenders in shutouts/game with a single team (Ken Dryden, .116 SO/GP with Montreal from 1970-71 to 1978-79).
In his time with the Sabres, Hasek allowed one goal or fewer in 184 games (37.5% of the time) and two or fewer in 314 games (64.0%)

BUF-DET CONNECTIONS

Ted Nolan:
Played parts of two seasons for the Red Wings (1981-82 and 1983-84), appearing in a total of 60 games. Initially selected by Detroit in the fifth round of the 1978 NHL Draft, Nolan tallied 20 points (5+15) during his time with the club.
Andre Benoit:
Played with Jakub Kindl for the Kitchener Rangers during the 2004-05 season.
Tyler Ennis:
Played with Darren Helm for two seasons (2005-2007) with the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL).
Jhonas Enroth:
Played with Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Jonathan Ericsson for Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.
Played with Joakim Andersson for Sweden at the 2008 World Junior Championship.
Played with Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist for Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
He and Niklas Kronwall are natives of Stockholm, Sweden.
Brian Flynn:
Played with Gustav Nyquist at the University of Maine for three seasons from 2008-2011.
Cody Hodgson:
Hodgson and Brendan Smith were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
Matt Moulson
Played with Kyle Quincey for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2008-09 season.
Andrej Meszaros:
Played with Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar for Slovakia at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Played with Drew Miller for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2009-10 season.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
Played with Teemu Pulkkinen for Team Finland at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
Chris Stewart:
Played with Kyle Quincey for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2011.•

NHL Draft:
Tyler Myers, Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and Tom McCollum were all taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Hodgson was selected 10th overall by Vancouver, Myers was taken 12th overall, Ennis went 26th overall and McCollum was selected 30th overall.