Sabres at Flyers | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

PHILADELPHIA – The Sabres open a run of four consecutive road games when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Buffalo will be looking for its fourth win in the last five games following a 4-3 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues at home on Thursday. The team will be without forward Tage Thompson and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, both of whom remain day to day with injuries.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes

In addition to Thompson and Luukkonen, the Sabres will be without forward Jordan Greenway after he left practice early on Friday with what coach Lindy Ruff described as a nagging injury.

Jiri Kulich was recalled from Rochester this morning and will join the lineup in Greenway’s place. Devon Levi will start in goal for the second straight game.

Thompson participated in an optional skate this morning. Both he and Luukkonen are expected to be ready for the team’s next game in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Storylines

1. Depth support

The Sabres saw several players step up with Thompson out of the lineup in their win over the Blues on Thursday.

Ryan McLeod filled in for Thompson at center on a line with Alex Tuch and had a goal and an assist. Zach Benson logged his third-highest ice time of the season at 17:01 and also had a goal.

“It’s an opportunity for [players] to step up in the lineup and play more key minutes, and a lot of times those players take advantage,” Ruff said. “And I thought [Thursday], again, we got contributions from a lot of different players, and it was important in that game to help us win.”

2. The power play

The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in eight of the last nine games following Rasmus Dahlin’s 4-on-3 overtime winner on Thursday.

The power play is 9-for-30 (30 percent) in that span, which dates back to Oct. 26.

Their next test is a Flyers penalty kill that has been among the league’s best this season, currently ranked third at 87.9 percent. The Flyers went 4-for-6 on the kill in their most recent game, an overtime victory in Ottawa, but had not allowed a power-play goal in the previous seven games.

3. Scouting the Flyers

Philadelphia will also be without its starting goaltender in Samuel Ersson, who is out with a lower-body injury. Sean Couturier is also questionable with an injury.

The Flyers have won their last two games to improve to 7-8-2 on the season, one point behind the Sabres in the Atlantic Division standings. Forward Travis Konecny leads the team in goals (nine), assists (10), and points (19) and enters Saturday on a five-game point streak.

Forward Matvei Michkov, the seventh-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has burst onto the scene in his first North American season. The 19-year-old leads NHL rookies in goals (six) and ranks second in points (13).

Game notes

1. Dahlin and JJ Peterka both enter Saturday on five-game point streaks with four goals and three assists each in that span. A point tonight would give Peterka the longest streak of his career.

2. Owen Power has an assist in each of the last three games. Power leads NHL defensemen with 13 even-strength points this season.

3. The Sabres are 4-1-0 in their last five visits to Philadelphia. They have scored at least five goals in each of the four wins.

4. Former Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson is expected to suit up for the Flyers and play his 1,000th NHL game. Johnson appeared in 50 games for Buffalo last season.