Game 33

Buffalo Sabres (6-23-4) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (16-13-4)

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Flyers Blog: Broad Street Hockey

Know Your Opponent

Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 16-13-4

Last 10: 3-6-1

Division Ranking: 5th in the East

PP: 15th (20.7%)

PK: 28th (72.8%)

1. Will this be the one?

Tonight, the Sabres have the tough task of snapping their 17-game losing streak. Can they do it? Probably not. Perhaps a more achievable goal would be to score some, um, goals. In Saturday’s game against the Bruins, Buffalo managed only three shots on goal in the final period and consequently blew their 2-1 lead to add another loss to their record.

In their last 10 home games, Buffalo is 0-9-1 with 10 GF, 39 GA (!), and five shutouts against them. Is the season over yet? Yikes.

2. Top Scorers

Philly forward James van Riemsdyk leads his team with 13 goals and 18 assists, while Sabres’ Sam Reinhart leads at 21 points with his 12 goals and nine assists. These will be the players to watch during what could be a close game. The last time these two teams met was March 9 when the Flyers won 5-4 in a shootout.

3. If Anything…

It will be interesting to see how the lines shake out again tonight. Linus Ullmark also returned Saturday and recorded 33 saves on 36 shots, so if anything, watching him back in the net will be better than the chaos we were watching during the handful of games while he was injured.

Projected Lineup

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner – Curtis Lazar – Kyle Okposo

Victor Olofsson – Dylan Cozens – Sam Reinhart

Taylor Hall – Cody Eakin – Riley Sheahan/Steven Fogarty

Defense

Ramus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju

Brandon Montour – Colin Miller

Matt Irwin – Rasmus Ristolainen

Starting Goaltender: Linus Ullmark

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards

Claude Giroux – Kevin Hayes – Joel Farabee

James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny

Oskar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Jakub Voracek

Michael Raffl – Scott Laughton – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defense

Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers

Ivan Provorov – Justin Braun

Shayne Gostisbehere – Sam Morin

Starting Goaltender: Brian Elliott