Florida @ Buffalo preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2019 ) Buffalo 5, Florida 2

The Buffalo Sabres opened the calendar year with a much-needed victory and look to build a streak when they host the Atlantic Division-rival Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon. The Sabres had lost four in a row and seven of eight before rallying from an early two-goal deficit to beat Edmonton 3-2 on Thursday at home on captain Jack Eichel’s overtime winner to begin the 2020 portion of the schedule.

“Just the struggles of late and the way the players have processed those and continued to work together, it’s an important signal here in 2020 to kick off the year with a win against a very good hockey team,” Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger told reporters. “They pushed us, they tested us, and they came out of the gates better than we did. We needed to play our best hockey to turn this game around.” The Sabres have won the first two matchups with the Panthers this season, but won’t have rookie Victor Olofsson (16 goals) in the lineup this time around as the 24-year-old right wing suffered a lower-body injury Thursday that is expected to keep him out 5-to-6 weeks. Florida is four points ahead of Buffalo in the division after winning for the sixth time in eight contests Thursday, scoring four goals in the second period en route to a 6-3 win at Ottawa to even its record at 1-1-0 on a four-game trip. “Every game is very important now,” Panthers right wing Evgenii Dadonov told reporters after scoring twice and adding an assist Thursday. “We’re near the halfway point of the season, so every point is huge. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, you fight for every point.”

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, MSG Buffalo

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (21-14-5): Dadonov has three goals and three assists in his last four games to tie defenseman Keith Yandle (98 career goals) for third on the team with 32 points. All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau leads the way with 55 points after collecting six goals and 12 assists over the past eight contests while captain Aleksander Barkov (45 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in the last two games with one shot combined. Sergei Bobrovsky (15-11-4) made 28 saves to earn his third victory in five games Thursday, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner owns an .868 save percentage in that stretch.

ABOUT THE SABRES (18-17-7): Buffalo dealt defenseman Marco Scandella to Montreal and acquired veteran Michael Frolik (five goals, 10 points in 38 games) from Calgary on Thursday to help with depth up front, along with penalty killing. “I’m really looking for a new opportunity there,” the 31-year-old Frolik told reporters in a conference call. “I’m really excited. It’s a fresh smart for me.” Eichel scored for the second straight game Thursday and leads the team with 26 goals - third in the league through Thursday - while fellow forward Sam Reinhart (32 points) added the 100th goal of his career in the victory.

OVERTIME

1. Florida F Noel Acciari scored Thursday, giving him nine goals in the last eight games to push his career-best total to 14.

2. Buffalo G Linus Ullmark (12-11-3, .910 SP) has started six straight games and stopped 84-of-88 shots to beat Florida twice this season.

3. The Panthers are 9-for-29 on the power play over the last eight games while the Sabres are 0-for-16 in the past six contests.

PREDICTION: Sabres 4, Panthers 3