Game 77

Buffalo Sabres (27-38-11) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (23-40-11)

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: (23-40-11) | 57 PTS

Division Ranking: 8th in Metropolitan

PP: 32nd (12.7%)

PK: 23rd (76.3%)

1. Home-and-Home

As the end of the regular season continues to rapidly approach, we find ourselves with a kink in the schedule that might provide some very exciting hockey.

Saturday night marks the first game in a back-to-back, home-and-home series between the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers.

The games between Buffalo and Philadelphia are normally chippy but the large amount of hockey played between these two teams should produce an even more exciting game.

2. Staring Down 20 Goals

The Buffalo Sabres have a couple forwards with their sights set on surpassing the 20 goal mark on the season.

Kyle Okposo, who has been incredibly consistent throughout the entire season, currently sits at 19 goals in 70 games.

Victor Olofsson, who has seen his game improve over the last few months, currently sits at 18 goals in 66 games.

Both players will continue to flex their offensive muscles but you have to wonder if they have a little more motivation with that 20-goal plateau staring them both in the face.

3. Fifth Place?

The Buffalo Sabres have been turning up the heat on the bottom half of the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo currently sits in 6th place in the Eastern Conference but they are hot on the trail of the Detroit Red Wings, who sit in 5th place with 68 points. It should be noted that Detroit has two games in hand.

While winning certainly affects Buffalo’s 2022 first round draft slot, being able to roll into the offseason with a solid few final games should help the team grow heading into the 2022-23 season.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner - Tage Thompson - Victor Olofsson

Rasmus Asplund - Dylan Cozens - Kyle Okposo

Peyton Krebs - Casey Mittelstadt - Alex Tuch

Anders Bjork - Zemgus Girgensons - Vinnie Hinostrosa

Defense

Jacob Bryson - Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju

Will Butcher - Casey Fitzgerald

Starter: Craig Anderson

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards

James van Riemsdyk - Kevin Hayes - Owen Tippett

Oskar Lindblom - Scott Laughton - Travis Konecny

Joel Farabee - Morgan Frost - Bobby Brink

Noah Cates - Nate Thompson - Zack MacEwen

Defense

Ivan Provorov - Egor Zamula

Travis Sanheim - Kevin Connauton

Keith Yandle - Ronnie Attard

Starter: Martin Jones