Tampa Bay Lightning (23-17-5, fifth in the Atlantic Division) vs. Buffalo Sabres (20-21-4, seventh in the Atlantic Division)
Buffalo, New York; Saturday, 12:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Buffalo Sabres after Anthony Cirelli's two-goal game against the Minnesota Wild in the Lightning's 7-3 win.
Buffalo has gone 20-21-4 overall with a 7-5-1 record against the Atlantic Division. The Sabres have an 8-3-2 record in games they score at least one power-play goal.
Tampa Bay is 4-4-3 against the Atlantic Division and 23-17-5 overall. The Lightning rank first in the league with 44 power-play goals.
The teams play Saturday for the second time this season. The Sabres won 3-2 in overtime in the previous meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rasmus Dahlin has 13 goals and 23 assists for the Sabres. Tage Thompson has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
Brayden Point has scored 21 goals with 26 assists for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov has five goals and 13 assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 6-4-0, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.7 assists, 3.8 penalties and 8.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game.
Lightning: 6-4-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.7 assists, 3.8 penalties and 9.8 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game.
INJURIES: Sabres: Jeff Skinner: out (upper body), Mattias Samuelsson: day to day (upper body).
Lightning: Haydn Fleury: out (hand), Mikhail Sergachev: out (lower body), Erik Cernak: day to day (upper-body), Tanner Jeannot: out (lower body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
