After a dizzying week of roster reshaping, the Florida Panthers will conclude its five-game homestand when they host the Buffalo Sabres this evening at Amerant Bank Arena.
Florida extended its winning streak to five games by blanking the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 on Thursday. Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov each scored a goal and added two assists and rookie Mackie Samoskevich also lit the lamp. Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves for his fourth shutout of the season. It was the 423rd win of his career, tying him with Tony Esposito for 10th in NHL history.
The reeling Sabres arrive in Sunrise in the midst of a miserable five-game losing streak that has seen them surrender a total of 25 goals. On Thursday, Buffalo led by two midway through the second period before eventually losing 6-5 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Tage Thompson leads the Sabres in goals (34) and scoring with 54 points.
- WHEN: 6 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, MSG-B
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #SabreHood, #BUFvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Die By The Blade
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 4 (1-1)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 5, @BUF 2 (Recap) – 10/28/2024
- NEXT MEETING: April 12, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Vanecek (3-10-3 .882 / 3.88 0SO) Buffalo: Luukkonen (20-19-4 .890 / 3.14 2SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Buffalo
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- New York Rangers (31-26-5 67P) at OTTAWA (31-25-5 67P) 12:30 p.m.
- BOSTON (28-28-8 64P) at TAMPA BAY (37-21-4 78P) 7 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+) 3 p.m.
- TORONTO (38-21-3 79P) at Colorado (37-24-2 76P) 7 p.m. (NHL Network) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (30-26-6 66P) at Calgary (29-23-10 68P) 7 p.m.
Idle: DET (66P)