“It’s something we don’t talk about a lot, but we just keep accumulating points,” Larkin said. “That’s something we learned last year. We were a young team and we hadn’t been in that position as a group. Now you feel like you’re on a roll, you want to keep 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 win 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, improving to 2-2-1 with a 3.01 goals-against average and .903 save percentage this season.

Lalonde said that with JT Compher, who missed Thursday’s game due to illness, questionable for Saturday’s game, Detroit could have 11 forwards and seven defensemen for a second straight game.

“I like 11 (forwards) and seven (blue lines) on the road,” Lalonde said. “I’m comfortable. Probably, in the middle of three (games) in four (days), with some of the minutes the guys had (Thursday), I would probably prefer the 12 forwards, but that’s something we’ll evaluate.

The third-year NHL head coach also said Tyler Motte (upper body) will remain day-to-day and will not be available in Buffalo.

“He was able to practice after practice (Friday), so he’s taking some steps,” Lalonde said of the 29-year-old forward. “But he’s still working day to day, I wouldn’t call it week to week, but we’re getting close.”