Buffalo Sabres (16-21-5) vs. Florida Panthers (39-21-3)
Puck Drop: 6:00 PM EST | Amerant Bank Arena | Sunrise, FL
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Florida Panthers
Record: 39-21-3 | 81 PTS
Division Ranking: 1st in the Atlantic
Last Game: 3-0 win over Columbus
PP: 23.4% (13th) – (Sabres 17.0%, 27th)
PK: 80.8% (12th) (Sabres 76.8%, 21st)
What To Watch
1. The Sabre Killer
Vitek Vanecek is expected to make his Panthers debut on Saturday night after being acquired by the team earlier this week. Vanecek was traded to Florida by the San Jose Sharks, who received forward Patrick Giles in the deal. The 29-year-old netminder was originally a second-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2014.
This season hasn’t been a great one for Vanecek, who is 3-10-3 with a 3.88 GAA and .882 save percentage. But – and it’s a big one – Vanecek has had incredible success against the Sabres in his career. In 13 games, he’s gone 10-2-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .917 save percentage, along with one shutout. He previously played in the Eastern Conference with both Washington and New Jersey, so he’s seen plenty of Buffalo – the Sabres are one of his most-played teams, behind only Boston (14 games). He has the most wins against the Sabres out of any NHL team.
2. Top-Line Norris
Josh Norris is expected to make his Sabres debut tonight, in a big way. He’ll likely be on the top line alongside Tage Thompson & J.J. Peterka and is also likely to be an anchor on the team’s first power play unit. Norris has 33 points, including 20 goals, this season, accrued in 53 games with the Senators.
Jacob Bernard-Docker, the team’s other asset obtained in the Cozens/Gilbert trade, has not yet joined the team.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
J.J. Peterka – Josh Norris – Tage Thompson
Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Peyton Krebs – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Sam Lafferty – Josh Dunne
Defense
Bowen Byram – Rasmus Dahlin
Mattias Samuelsson – Owen Power
Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (expected), James Reimer
Florida Panthers
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Tomas Nosek
Defense
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Vitek Vanecek (expected), Sergei Bobrovsky