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Buffalo Sabres - Florida Panthers Game Preview

2/2/26 - 7:00pm at Amerant Bank Arena, in Sunrise, FL

Buffalo – 31-18-5 | - 67  points – 5th place in the Atlantic Division

Florida  – 28-23-3 | - 59 points – 6th place in the Atlantic Division

 

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 19.6% (18th)

Penalty Kill – 82.8% (8th)

Florida

Power Play – 18.4% (30th)

Penalty Kill - 82.9% (7th)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 54 GP, 28 G, 28 A, 56 PTS

Alex Tuch: 53 GP, 22 G, 25 A, 47 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 50 GP, 11 G, 33 A, 44 PTS

Florida  

Sam Reinhart: 54 GP, 27 G, 25 A, 52 PTS

Brad Marchand: 45 GP, 25 G, 25 A, 50 PTS

Sam Bennett: 54 GP, 19 G, 23 A, 42 PTS

 

 

Starting Goalies(projected)

Buffalo – Alex Lyon (13-7-3, 2.64 GAA, .913 Sv %)

Florida  –  Sergei Bobrovsky (20-16-1, 3.05 GAA, .875 Sv%)

Other Sabres Stories

Rasmus Dahlin = Norris contender?

Sabres Line Combinations and Pairings (projected)

Forwards

Zach Benson - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch

Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn 

Josh Doan - Peyton Krebs - Noah Ostlund 

Isak Rosen - Tyson Kozak - Beck Malenstyn

Ex. Jordan Greenway, Konsta Helenius 

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin

Bowen Byram - Owen Power

Zach Metsa -. Michael Kesselring

Ex. Jacob Bryson

Goaltenders

Alex Lyon

Colten Ellis

Injuries

Justin Danforth (lower body, Oct. 18; injured reserve)

Jiri Kulich (blood clot, Nov. 4; injured reserve) 

Conor Timmins (broken leg, Dec. 20; injured reserve)

Josh Dunne (mid-body, Jan. 14; injured reserve)

Josh Norris (ribs, Jan. 16, week-to-week)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower-body, Jan 27, day-to-day)

 

Notes

With a win tonight, Buffalo would have 21 wins in a 26-game span for the first time in franchise history.

The Sabres have recorded at least one point in 21 of their last 25 games (20-4-1), including wins in four of their last five games.

Their 20 wins and 41 points in that span (since Dec. 9) are the most among all NHL teams. The Sabres have allowed just 2.44 goals per game in that span, the fewest among all NHL teams.

With a win tonight, the Sabres would have earned 43 or more points in a 26-game stretch for the first time since they went 20-2-4 from Oct. 17 to Dec. 8, 1974.

Mattias Samuelsson has recorded nine points (1+8) in his last eight 

Games. Samuelsson has recorded at least one point in four straight road games and a point tonight would make him the first Sabres defenseman to post a road point streak of five or more games since Rasmus Dahlin from Jan. 2 to 21, 2025.

In his last 12 contests, Jack Quinn has recorded 12 points (5+7).

Ryan McLeod has recorded 15 points (4+11) in his last 14 games.

Alex Tuch has recorded at least one point in four straight games and he has tallied six points (5+1).

Rasmus Dahlin (310 assists) ranks tied for seventh on Buffalo’s all-time assists list and needs one assist to surpass Don Luce and gain sole possession of seventh place. Dahlin has recorded 15 points (7+8) in his last 11 games, including at least one point in four straight games.

Tage Thompson has recorded 35 points (16+19) in his last 29 games, including 25 points (10+15) in his last 19 games.

Bowen Byram has tallied an assist in back-to-back games.

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