“It’s not talked about much, but just keep putting up points,” Larkin said. “It’s something we learned last year. We were a young team and as a group we had not yet been in that position. Now you feel like you’re doing well this way, you want to keep it going and realize how important every game is when you feel good, feel good and find ways to win.
Buffalo has won two games in a row, most recently a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Alex Tuch leads the Sabers with nine points (three goals, six assists) this season, while Tage Thompson is second with eight points (five goals, three assists). Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves against the Stars and improved to 2-2-1 this season with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
Lalonde said with JT Compher missing Thursday’s game due to illness questionable for Saturday’s game, Detroit could go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second straight game.
“I like eleven (forwards) and seven (blueliners) on the road,” Lalonde said. ‘I feel comfortable. “Probably, in the middle of a three (games) in four (days), with some of the minutes the boys had (on Thursday), I would probably prefer the 12 forwards, but that is something we will evaluate.”
The third-year NHL head coach also said Tyler Motte (upper body) remains day-to-day and will not be available in Buffalo.
“He did get a post-training skate on Friday, so he’s taking some steps,” Lalonde said of the 29-year-old forward. “But he’s still day to day, I wouldn’t call it week to week, but we’re approaching that.”