The Florida Panthers (38-16-4) will look to build on Saturday’s overtime victory over the Washington Capitals when take on the Buffalo Sabres (27-27-4) for the second time this season tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. Thanks to Gustav Forsling’s winner in the extra session against the Capitals, which came shortly after he broke up a 3-on-1 in his own end, Florida is one of four teams in the NHL with 80 or more points and their .690 points percentage is the highest in the league. The Panthers sport a gaudy 20-4-2 record since December 23, and have given two or less goals in 13 straight games.
A 3-2 shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday extended the Sabres winning streak to three games and got them back to NHL .500 for the first time since November 24, when they were 9-9-2. Despite winning five of their last seven games, Buffalo’s quest to end its long playoff drought is in bad place, as they are currently 11 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, although they do hold a couple of games in hand on Bolts. Casey Mittlestadt leads the Sabres in assists (31) and scoring with 44 points.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: ESPN+, HULU
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LetsGoBuffalo, #BUFvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Die By The Blade
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 3 (1-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @BUF 0 (Recap) – 2/15/2024
- NEXT MEETING: April 13, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (28-11-2 .916 / 2.36 3SO) Buffalo: Luukkonen (17-14-2 .913 / 2.45 4SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Buffalo
Tuesday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Washington (27-21-9 63P) at DETROIT (32-20-6 70P) 7 p.m.
- Arizona (23-29-5 51P) at MONTREAL (22-28-8 52P) 7 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (32-23-5 69P) at Philadelphia (30-22-7 67P) 7 p.m.
- Vegas (32-19-7 71P) at TORONTO (33-16-8 74P) 7 p.m.
- OTTAWA (25-28-3 53P) at Nashville (32-25-2 66P) 8 p.m.
Idle: BOS (82P)