- WHO: Buffalo Sabres (9-15-2 20P) at Florida Panthers (10-7-7 27P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET (LBC GameThread at 6:30ish)
- WHERE: BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL (single game tickets here)
- HOW TO WATCH: Fox Sports Florida (FLA); MSG Buffalo, Bell TV (BUF)
- HOW TO LISTEN: WQAM 560 (FLA); WGR 550 (BUF)
- ENEMY INTEL: Die By The Blade
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 5 (1-0)
- ALL-TIME VS BUF: 32W-38L-4T 4OTL 2SOL 190GF 228GA
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Buffalo
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Last game for Florida: 4-3 (SO) home loss to Columbus. 55 shots sent Bobrovsky’s way weren’t enough to seal a victory after Florida pulled a no-show in the first period. Good? Bjugstad’s 2G/1A effort, followed closely by Tomas Fleischmann’s goal and assist. Bad? CBJ led in hits (40-27) and blocked shots (27 to…wait for it…8). Luongo was scraping dirt with 17 saves in 65 minutes. A dramatic and emotional second period comeback but still: where were ya in the first?
Last game for Buffalo: 5-0 loss at Tampa Bay Thursday. Three Stars were Stamkos, Gudas & Bishop, because Lightning; a penalty-riddled exhibition of anger and confusion kept the third frame crackling. The Sabres have been far better than that score in recent days, going 6-1 in their last 7, defeating Tampa Bay in the first match of that home-and-home, Montreal twice in another dual-set, the Capitals and San Jose (not sure about the latter two being “competitive”, but to each his own).
NHL Preview
Around the Atlantic Division
- Ottawa (25P) at Pittsburgh (36P), 1 p.m.
- Vancouver (37P) at Toronto (29P), 7 p.m
- NY Rangers (26P) at Detroit (35P), 7 p.m.
- Columbus (18P) at Tampa Bay (39P), 7 p.m.
- Montreal (36P) at Dallas (23P), 7 p.m.
- Boston (29P) at Arizona (23P), 8 p.m.
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