Buffalo Sabres (26-35-11, sixth in the Atlantic) vs. Florida Panthers (49-15-6, first in the Atlantic)
Sunrise, Florida; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -408, Sabres +313; over/under is 7
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres visit Florida after Sam Reinhart scored two goals in the Panthers' 7-6 overtime win against the Maple Leafs.
The Panthers are 14-2-2 in division play. Florida has scored 291 goals and leads the Eastern Conference averaging 4.2 goals per game. Aleksander Barkov leads the team with 34.
The Sabres are 7-11-4 against opponents in the Atlantic. Buffalo averages just 3.2 penalties per game, the fewest in the NHL. Rasmus Dahlin leads the team averaging 0.4.
In their last meeting on April 3, Florida won 5-3. Anthony Duclair scored a team-high two goals for the Panthers in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Barkov leads the Panthers with 34 goals, adding 42 assists and totaling 76 points. Jonathan Huberdeau has seven goals over the last 10 games for Florida.
Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 57 points, scoring 32 goals and adding 25 assists. Casey Mittelstadt has eight assists over the last 10 games for Buffalo.
LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 8-2-0, averaging 4.5 goals, 7.5 assists, 3.8 penalties and 8.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game with an .883 save percentage.
Sabres: 5-2-3, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.2 assists, 2.1 penalties and 4.2 penalty minutes while allowing 3.4 goals per game with an .889 save percentage.
INJURIES: Panthers: Noel Acciari: out (upper body), Jonas Johansson: out (covid-19), Markus Nutivaara: out (undisclosed).
Sabres: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
