PREVIEW: FLYERS @ SABRES
In the second game of a four-game road trip, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (30-26-8) are in New York State on Tuesday night to take on Dan Bylsma's Buffalo Sabres (27-27-12). Game time at the KeyBank Center is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the clubs, and the second and final game in Buffalo. The Flyers earned an improbable 4-3 home shootout win on Oct. 25 after trailing the Sabres, 3-0, heading into the third period. Three power play goals, including Travis Konecny's first NHL goal, spearheaded the Flyers' comeback. On Jan. 10, the Flyers sustained a 4-1 road loss to the Sabres.
Overall, the Sabres have given the Flyers significant trouble the last few years. The Sabres have won four of the last games between the clubs. Three of the games have gone past regulation, however, with Buffalo winning two.
Flyers Outlook
Philly is 4-6-2 over its last 12 games but is 2-0-1 in the last three games. The team is coming off a 2-1 overtime road loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Sean Couturier's early third period deflection goal stood as the lone Flyers' tally. Steve Mason played well in goal for the third straight time.
Entering play on Tuesday, the Flyers are three points behind the New York Islanders for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, which has a tiebreaker disadvantage against every team they are chasing in the standings, will likely to win outright on points. The Islanders have 71 points in 64 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs have 70 points in 64 games. The Florida Panthers have 69 points in 64 games while the Tampa Bay Lightning have 69 points in 65 games. The Flyers have 68 points in 64 games.
On the injury front, Travis Konecny (lower body) returned to the Flyers' lineup in Washington. Michael Raffl left the team's Feb. 28 games with a lower-body injury and learned the next day that he would miss four to six weeks.
Sabres Outlook
The Sabres, who have played two more games than the Flyers, have posted 66 points on the season. The club is 16-11-6 on home ice this season. Overall, the club is 4-4-2 over its last 10 games.
On Sunday, the Sabres built a 3-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period only to see the advantaged frittered away. The Penguins sliced the deficit to one goal by the end of the second period. In the third period, Pittsburgh pulled even in the final four minutes and then went ahead to stay on Conor Sheary's goal at 17:04. First period goals by Ryan O'Reilly (16th), Brian Gionta (14th) and Jack Eichel (16th) went to waste. Peppered with shots, Anders Nilsson stopped 41 of 45 Penguins' salvos in a losing cause.
For the season, the power play half of Buffalo's special teams has been excellent overall as it has clicked at a robust 22.9 percent clip. However, the penalty killing half of special teams has been abysmal (a common Buffalo problem in recent years). Opposing teams have scored at a 24.6 percent rate on their power plays.
Projected lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
40 Jordan Weal - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 10 Brayden Schenn - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek 25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-à‰douard Bellemare - 11 Travis Konecny
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald 23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Roman Lyubimov (healthy), Dale Weise (healthy), Nick Schultz (healthy), Michael Raffl (IR, lower body).
SABRES
9 Evander Kane - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 12 Brian Gionta 82 Marcus Foligno - 15 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart 26 Matt Moulson - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 63 Tyler Ennis 44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 28 Zemgus Girgensons - 56 Justin Bailey
29 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 4 Josh Gorges - 6 Cody Franson 41 Justin Falk - 47 Zach Bogosian
31 Anders Nilsson / 40 Robin Lehner
Scratches: Kyle Okposo (doubtful, cracked ribs), Dmitry Kulikov (doubtful, suspected concussion), William Carrier (IR, bone bruise), Johan Larsson (IR, wrist), Cody McCormick (IR, blood clots).