Sabres Head to Broad Street

Game 75

Buffalo Sabres (36-31-7) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (29-32-13)

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST | Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA

TV: MSG

Radio: WGR 550

Know Your Opponent

Philadelphia Flyers

Record: (29-32-13)

Last Game: 5-4 OT loss to Senators

Division Ranking: 7th in Metropolitan Division

PP: 16.3% (31st)

PK: 74.3% (26th)

What to Watch

1. Familiar Faces

There should be a few familiar faces in the lineup tonight in Philadelphia, with a number of former Sabres suiting up in the orange and black. Former Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and forward Nicolas Deslauriers are joined by former Buffalo prospect Brendan Lemieux.

Ristolainen has 18 points and a 44.8% CF in 67 games this season, averaging 18:52 per game. He was traded to the Flyers on July 23, 2021 by the Sabres in exchange for Robert Hagg and two draft picks, which turned into Isak Rosén and a 2023 second-rounder still to be fulfilled.

Deslauriers has 11 points and 131 penalty minutes in 72 games. He averages 10:08 of ice time per night and had a whopping 20 penalty minutes in the team's last game, despite playing only 5:14. Deslauriers was traded by the Sabres in October 2017 to Montreal, a one-for-one swap for Zach Redmond. He then was sent to Anaheim for a fourth-round pick in 2019, and to Minnesota in 2022 for a third-round pick, before ending up in Philly.

In 37 games this season, Lemieux has eight points and 72 penalty minutes while averaging 10:16 per game. The 2014 Sabres draft pick was traded by the team in the blockbuster 2015 package that included Joel Armia, Drew Stafford, Tyler Myers and a draft pick (which eventually turned into Jack Roslovic) in exchange for Jason Kasdorf, Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane.

2. No April Fools Here

The Sabres have a great record historically on April 1st, going 18-5-4 on this day.

And, on this day in 1973, the Sabres clinched their first-ever playoff spot.

Entering today's NHL slate, Buffalo has a 2.9 percent chance of making the playoffs. Other relevant games today: Bruins vs. Penguins (3:00 PM, on ESPN+ and ABC), Panthers vs. Blue Jackets (7:00 PM) and Islanders vs. Lightning (7:00 PM).

3. Who's In Net

At this point, with Craig Anderson day-to-day with injury, the Sabres have three goalies to work with: Devon Levi, who had an outstanding NHL debut Friday night; Eric Comrie, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Who gets the start Saturday night? Your guess is as good as mine, but I think we all have our preferences on who'd we like to see.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner - Casey Mittelstadt - Alex Tuch

JJ Peterka - Dylan Cozens - Jack Quinn

Jordan Greenway - Tyson Jost - Victor Olofsson

Zemgus Girgensons - Peyton Krebs - Kyle Okposo

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson - Ilya Lyubushkin

Goaltenders: Devon Levi, Eric Comrie

Scratches: Vinnie Hinostroza, Kale Clague, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Injuries: Tage Thompson, Craig Anderson

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards

Joel Farabee - Morgan Frost - Owen Tippett

Scott Laughton - Noah Cates - Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk - Kevin Hayes - Brendan Lemieux

Nicolas Deslauriers - Tanner Laczynski - Justin Braun

Defense

Ivan Provorov - Cam York

Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen

Nick Seeler - Tony Deangelo

Goaltenders: Felix Sandstrom, Samuel Ersson

Injuries: Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Carter Hart