SABRES (33-19-6) at PANTHERS (30-25-3)
7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MSG-B, SNO, SNE
Sabres projected lineup
Peyton Krebs — Tage Thompson — Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker — Ryan McLeod — Jack Quinn
Noah Ostlund — Josh Norris — Josh Doan
Josh Dunne — Tyson Kozak — Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson — Rasmus Dahlin
Zach Metsa — Michael Kesselring
Bowen Byram — Owen Power
Alex Lyon
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Scratched: Jacob Bryson, Anton Wahlberg, Colten Ellis
Injured: Zach Benson (upper body), Jordan Greenway (middle body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jiri Kulich (blood clot), Justin Danforth (lower body)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe — Evan Rodrigues — Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer — Luke Kunin — Sandis Vilmanis
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Uvis Balinskis
Donovan Sebrango — Jeff Petry
Daniil Tarasov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Jesper Boqvist, Tobias Bjornfot
Injured: Seth Jones (collarbone), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Cole Schwindt (lower body)
Status report
Benson took part in the Sabres morning skate but the forward is expected to miss his fourth straight game; he could return at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. … Tarasov is expected to start; he left in the third period of a 6-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Feb. 5 because of a lower-body injury. … Schwindt left the Panthers’ 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday early in the third period. Coach Paul Maurice said the forward is out long term.
