Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers Game Preview

4/17/25 at 7 pm at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY 

Record

Buffalo – 35-39-7 | 77 points – 7th place in the Atlantic Division

Philadelphia – 33-38-10 | 76 points – 8th place in the Metropolitan Division

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 18.9% (24th)

Penalty Kill – 76.6% (23rd)

Philadelphia

Power Play – 14.6% (30th)

Penalty Kill - 77.5% (20th)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 75 GP, 44 G, 28 A, 72 PTS 

Rasmus Dahlin: 72 GP, 17 G, 51 A, 68 PTS 

JJ Peterka: 76 GP, 26 G, 40 A, 66 PTS

Philadelphia

Travis Konecny: 81 GP, 24 G, 51 A, 75 PTS 

Matvei Michkov: 79 GP, 24 G, 36 A, 60 PTS 

Owen Tippett: 76 GP, 20 G, 23 A, 43 PTS

Starting Goalies

Buffalo – James Reimer (9-8-2, 2.79 GAA, .904 save %)

Philadelphia – Ivan Fedotov (6-13-4, 3.15 GAA, .880 save %)

Other Sabres Stories

Is Peterka In Prime Position For Big Payday?

Sabres Ownership Ranked Worst In NHL By Survey In The Athletic

Dahlin Refutes Assertion Of Wanting Out Of Buffalo

Line Combinations and Pairings

Forwards

Zach Benson - Jiri Kulich - Tage Thompson 

JJ Peterka - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn

Jason Zucker – Peyton Krebs - Alex Tuch 

Isak Rosen – Noah Ostlund - Sam Lafferty

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin

Jacob Bryson - Jacob Bernard-Docker

Bowen Byram - Connor Clifton 

Goaltenders

James Reimer

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Injuries

Jordan Greenway (day-to-day – lower body)

Josh Norris (day-to-day – mid-body)

Tyson Kozak (week-to-week - hip)

Owen Power (out - lower body)

Beck Malenstyn (out - upper body)

Notes

The Sabres have earned at least one point in five of their last seven home contests against the Flyers (4-2-1) and they have recorded at least four goals in each of their wins in that span. 

JJ Peterka has tallied 34 points (16+18) in his last 32 games and he has registered 11 points (4+7) in his last 10 games. 

Rasmus Dahlin has posted 16 points (5+11) in his last 13 games, including nine points (3+6) in his last seven contests. 

Tage Thompson has posted 47 points (28+19) in his last 46 games, including 12 points (10+2) in his last 12 games. Thompson leads all NHL skaters in even-strength goals (37) this season. If Thompson finishes the season ranked first in even-strength goals, it will mark the first time a Sabres skater has done so in franchise history. 

Alex Tuch has registered 14 points (8+6) in his last 11 games. Tuch ranks first among NHL forwards in blocked shots (110) and second among forwards in takeaways (46) this season. Tuch is one of 10 forwards who have registered 100 or more blocked shots in a single season since 2005-06. He currently ranks second all-time and is two blocked shots away from recording the most (Mathieu Dandenault; 2006-07; 111 blocked shots). 

Jack Quinn has tallied 11 points (4+7) in his last 12 games. 

Lindy Ruff is one win away from becoming just the fifth coach in NHL history to reach 900 regular-season wins in their career.

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