Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde pulls out all the stops with latest new-look line combinations

The Detroit Red Wings have to stop the bleeding before it's too late on their season.

Saturday night marked their 5th consecutive defeat; even more cruel is the fact that it was their 5th straight loss by one goal.

Detroit was bested by the Colorado Avalanche thanks in large part to a sparkling 28-save performance by goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who entered the game with an abysmal .867 SV% yet looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate.

The Red Wings are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres, who are going through an extremely difficult stretch of their own, meaning something will have to give between the two teams tonight.

During their previous practice session, the Red Wings once again mixed up their line combinations which included elevating Michael Rasmussen to the second line alongside Marco Kasper and Patrick cKane while throwing J.T. Compher on the third line with Andrew Copp.

Alex DeBrincat-Dyan Larkin-Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen-Marco Kasper-Patrick Kane
Vladimir Tarasenko-J.T. Compher-Andrew Copp
Jonatan Berggren/Joe Veleno-Tyler Motte-Christian Fischer

Simon Edvinsson-Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot-Jeff Petry
Erik Gustafsson/Albert Johansson-Just Holl

However, when it comes to which goaltender will get the nod, coach Derek Lalonde remained undecided.

Something will have to give in tonight's game between the Red Wings, who have lost five straight, and the Sabres, who have lost six straight including five in a row on home ice.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff blasted his team's mental fortitude after their latest loss against the Utah HC; among their losses of late was a 5-4 loss to the Avalanche after having initially led 4-0.