The Flyers will be in Buffalo tonight to take on the Sabres at 7pm, in what will be the first of two games between both clubs this weekend. They will face each other again tomorrow at 5pm in Philadelphia.
This is the second of three meetings between both teams this season. The Sabres defeated the Flyers 6-3 on January 22.
Buffalo Sabres (27-38-11, 65pts)
Owen Power made his debut against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The #1 overall pick in the 2021 draft was a +2 in his first NHL game. He then recored an assist against the Blues on Thursday for his first NHL point.
Mattias Samuelsson is recovering from a lower-body injury and is expected to play in either one of the games this weekend. Samuelsson has nine assists in 36 games played for the Sabres this season. He’s registered five of those assists in the last ten games.
Victor Olofsson has been finding his groove lately. After missing time with a wrist injury, Olofsson has been finding the back of the net again. Olofsson was on a 30-game goal-scoring drought prior to February 15 when he scored twice against the Islanders. He’s also put up 11 points in his last ten games.
Tonight will also mark Alex Tuch’s 300th NHL game.
Sabres Projected Lineup
Forwards
Skinner – Thompson – Olofsson
Krebs – Mittelstadt – Tuch
Asplund – Cozens – Okposo
Bjork – Girgensons – Hinostroza
Defenseman
Bryson – Dahlin
Power – Jokiharju
Butcher – Fitzgerald
Goalie
Anderson
(Tokarski)
Philadelphia Flyers (23-40-11, 57pts)
The Flyers are looking to bounce back from a 4-0 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday where they were dominated from start to finish.
Injuries have hindered the Flyers late into the season, and this has seen some young talent get the call up to the big club.
Carter Hart, Cam York, Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Patrick Brown did not practice with the team yesterday. Nate Thompson did return to practice.
Felix Sandstrom has been recalled to backup Martin Jones tonight. It looks like Carter Hart will be out for the rest of the season. Sandstrom started against the Rangers in the 4-0 loss on Wednesday.
Defenseman Yegor Zamula will be playing alongside of fellow Russian, Ivan Porvorov, tonight. Zamula said it’s a dream to play alongside Provorov and he made it his intention when he first signed with the Flyers.
Bobby Brink was seen on the same line as Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee at practice. Brink was also seen on the top power-play unit. Expect Brink to create some chances tonight.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Forwards
van Reimsdyk – Hayes – Tippett
Lindblom – Laughton – Konecny
Farabee – Frost – Brink
Cates – Thompson – MacEwan
Defense
Provorov – Zamula
Sanheim – Connauton
Yandle – Attard
Goalie
Jones
(Sandstrom)
Props/Predictions
Victor Olofsson anytime score (+245)
Bobby Brink anytime score (+310)
Flyers money-line (+135)
Correct score prediction: Flyers 4, Sabres 2 (+2500)
Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre
