Sabres at Panthers: How to Watch, Lines, Goalies, Betting Odds

FORT LAUDERDALE — It has been a while since the Florida Panthers played a home game against a team that has cashed in on its season, but that’s the case tonight when the Buffalo Sabres visit Sunrise.

Buffalo has lost five straight and will miss the playoffs for the 14th straight season.

The Panthers, of course, loaded up for another Stanley Cup run and were very active at the NHL Trade Deadline bringing in the likes of Seth Jones and Brad Marchand.

One of Florida’s trade acquisitions will be starting in net tonight as Vitek Vanecek makes his Panthers debut.

Vanecek, who is wearing doctored up pads and a Panthers-themed helmet, only won three games with San Jose this season.

His last win: Nov. 29 against Seattle.

Vanecek has a personal seven-game losing streak going; the Panthers have won five straight and will hit the road for the next six after tonight.

NOTES: SABRES @ PANTHERS

• Buffalo will have new center Josh Norris in the lineup Saturday after he joined the team Friday. He was part of a big deal between the Sabres and Ottawa Senators.
• The Sabres may have a number of holes in their lineup due to the trade deadline — and are dealing with illness. Jiri Kulich is out; Jordan Greenway and Jack Quinn both missed the morning skate.
• Florida will be without Jonah Gadjovich tonight because of a personal issue.
• How to Watch: Tonight’s game is on local TV. The game can also be streamed on Panthers+ locally and ESPN+ nationally.
• Starting Goalies: Vanecek goes for the Panthers; Buffalo will start Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites on the money line (-275) at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $275 bet pays $100.

ON DECK: GAME No. 64

BUFFALO SABRES at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WPTV 5/WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-275); Puck line (-1.5, -110); Over/Under 6.5 (+105/-130)
• Last Season: Panthers Won 3-0
• This Season (Tied 1-1) — At Buffalo: Sabres 5, Panthers 2 (Oct. 12); Panthers 5, Sabres 2 (Oct. 28). At Florida: Saturday; April 12.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 58-46-8, 4 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (39-21-3) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

25 Mackie Samoskevich // 9 Sam Bennett // 17 Evan Rodrigues

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 70 Jesper Boqvist

10 A.J. Greer // 8 Nico Sturm // 94 Tomas Nosek

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones

88 Nate Schmidt // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

41 Vitek Vanecek

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Uvis Balinskis, Jonah Gadjovich

Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (lower body/LTIR), Brad Marchand (upper body)

PROJECTED BUFFALO SABRES (24-31-6) LINES

77 JJ Peterka // 19 Josh Norris // 72 Tage Thompson

12 Jordan Greenway // 71 Ryan McLeod // 89 Alex Tuch

9 Zach Benson //19 Peyton Krebs // 22 Jack Quinn

29 Beck Malenstyn // 81 Sam Lafferty // 44 Josh Dunne

4 Bowen Byram // 26 Rasmus Dahlin

23 Mattias Samuelsson // 25 Owen Power

78 Jacob Bryson // 75 Connor Clifton

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

47 James Reimer

Scratched: Jacob Bernard-Docker, Isak Rosen

Injured: Jason Zucker (lower body), Jiri Kulich (illness)