(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres will not face many of the Florida Panthers on Saturday as they have injuries, suspensions and players resting.

Not in Florida’s lineup are Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekblad, Sergei Bobrovsky and Sam Bennett.

Buffalo is coming off a 3-2 loss in Columbus, but have won 5-of-6 games and 8-of-10.

James Reimer has won seven of his last eight starts. Alex Tuch had his seven-game point streak stopped too.

Lindy Ruff is still one win away from his 900th NHL victory.

Buffalo is seventh in the league in goal scoring while Florida is seventh in goals against.

The two teams split two games in Buffalo during October. The Sabres won 5-2 behind Devon Levi and then the Panthers came back later in the month and won 5-2. The two teams didn’t meet in Sunrise until March 8 and that was a 4-0 Florida win.

Vitek Vanecek continues his mastery over the Sabres picking up the 21 save shutout. In 14 career games vs Buffalo he’s 11-2-1 with a 2.21 goals against and .922 save percentage. Overall between Florida and the San Jose Sharks Vanecek is 4-13-4 with a 3.64 goals against and .884 save percentage.

If the season ended today Florida would open the playoffs in Tampa against the Lightning. That could change because Tampa Bay is only two points in back of the first place Toronto Maple Leafs and the Panthers are four points behind. The Ottawa Senators are four points in back of Florida.

Join Brian Koziol and me at 5:00 for the pregame.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Sam Navarro USA Today Images