Graphic design: Francisco Oporta
The Florida Panthers (46-29-4) will play its penultimate home game of the regular season when they host the Buffalo Sabres (35-37-6) this evening at Amerant Bank Arena.
After slogging through a frustrating five-game losing streak, things have brightened for the Panthers, who followed up a 3-1 win over Toronto by beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Thursday. Brad Marchand scored his first as a Panther, and Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich each collected their 15th goal of the season. When Aleksander Barkov’s deflection beat Cam Talbot late in the third period, it marked the first time since March 8 (a 4-0 win over Buffalo) that the Panthers hit four goals in regulation.
While the Panthers were leaving the Red Wings on the brink, the Sabres had their five-game winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Despite missing the playoffs (again), Buffalo hasn’t thrown in the towel, as evidence by its 8-2 record over the last ten games. They have scored a robust 46 goals during that span, ten of them off the stick of sniper Tage Thompson.
- WHEN: 6 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, MSG-B
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #SabreHood, #BUFvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Die By The Blade
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 4 of 4 (2-1)
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 4, BUF 0 (Recap) – 3/8/2025
- NEXT MEETING: 2025-26 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Vanecek (4-13-4 .884 / 3.64 1SO) Buffalo: Luukkonen (23-23-4 .883 / 3.25 2SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Buffalo
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- MONTREAL (39-31-9 87P) at TORONTO (38-21-3 79P) 7 p.m.
Idle: TBL (98P), OTT (92P) DET (81P), BOS (73P)
