SABRES (31-18-5) at PANTHERS (28-23-3)
7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MSG-B
Sabres projected lineup
Zach Benson — Tage Thompson — Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker — Ryan McLeod — Jack Quinn
Josh Doan — Peyton Krebs — Noah Ostlund
Isak Rosen — Tyson Kozak — Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson — Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram — Owen Power
Zach Metsa — Michael Kesselring
Alex Lyon
Colten Ellis
Scratched: Jacob Bryson, Konsta Helenius
Injured: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body), Jordan Greenway (middle body), Josh Norris (upper body), Josh Dunne (middle body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jiri Kulich (blood clot), Justin Danforth (lower body)
Panthers projected lineup
Eetu Luostarinen — Evan Rodrigues — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Sandis Vilmanis — Cole Schwindt — A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist — Luke Kunin — Mackie Samoskevich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Uvis Balinskis
Tobias Bjornfot — Jeff Petry
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Anton Lundell (upper body), Brad Marchand (lower body), Seth Jones (upper body), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder)
Status report
Norris, who has missed nine games, participated in the morning skate but the forward will not play; Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Norris was “getting real close, but still not there yet.” … Ruff said Bryson, a defenseman who has missed four games, is “available.” … Buffalo recalled Rosen from Rochester of the American Hockey League and reassigned defenseman Zac Jones. … Marchand will miss his second straight game after the forward left a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday after the second period; coach Paul Maurice said he’s day to day. … Lundell participated in the morning skate in a noncontact jersey but the forward will miss his third straight game. … Gadjovich was on the ice for the morning skate. The forward has been out since Oct. 25 and is not expected back until after the break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
