The Buffalo Sabres will end their three-game homestand on Saturday when they face the Florida Panthers at KeyBank Center. The Panthers are the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
The Sabres are coming off their first win of the season, where they scored eight goals against the Ottawa Senators. Zach Benson made his season debut in that game, contributing four assists. Benson had missed the first three games after being hospitalized from a puck to the face during practice.
“I think, putting him in in the lineup, he’s a guy that can handle the puck, he can make the small plays,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought he helped our power play. Did a lot of good things in the game. It was good to see. He had a good camp. He really skated well. And just kind of a tough blow for us to see him take a puck in the face there and miss a few days.”
Buffalo will try to continue its strong offensive performance against a Florida team that has lost its last three road games.
The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Fans can watch the broadcast on MSG within the Buffalo market, stream on the Gotham Sports App and ESPN+ (for out-of-market viewers), or listen on WGR 550 and the Buffalo Sabres App.
In lineup news, forward Justin Danforth will be out for more than a month after suffering a lower-body injury during Wednesday’s game. Ruff said, “He’s going to be out a significant amount of time,” adding that Danforth will miss over a month of action.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson returns after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. Jiri Kulich, who played as the fourth-line right winger on Wednesday, moves back to the top line between Benson and Tage Thompson.
The Panthers come into Saturday’s game on a three-game losing streak, having lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils after starting the season 3-0. Florida has also been affected by injuries, with captain Aleksander Barkov out with a torn ACL and MCL, and Matthew Tkachuk expected to be sidelined until December due to surgery. Tomas Nosek is also out, and coach Paul Maurice announced that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will be out for five months following surgery.
Despite these setbacks, players such as Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Brad Marchand remain available for Florida, with Marchand recording six points in six games.
Ruff noted the challenge his team faces: “They know how to win, they’re a deep team,” Ruff said. “They’re missing a couple big pieces but they still got [Brad] Marchand, you still got [Sam] Reinhart, you got [Aaron] Ekblad, you got a defense that’s really good. You got a goaltender that’s won two Stanley Cups, so we know we’re in for a heck of a battle.”
