The Buffalo Sabres will go for their fourth straight win when they host the Florida Panthers on Monday night.
Buffalo is coming off a 5-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, while the Panthers will be looking to make it three in a row after a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders the same day.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov is expected to return after missing his eighth straight game on Saturday. He has not played since Oct. 10 when he slammed into the end boards and was injured in a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. He had one assist in two games before his injury.
“We believe if Barkov gets off the ice feeling good today, we’ll see him against Buffalo,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said on Saturday.
Against the Islanders, Florida trailed 3-0 less than 12 minutes in but scored six straight goals.
Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and an assist and Mackie Samoskevich scored his first NHL goal for the Panthers. Anton Lundell had two assists and Spencer Knight made 25 saves for the Panthers, who have won three of four. Knight stopped all 19 shots he faced in the second and third periods.
“I think we just started really slow,” Maurice said. “I thought we moved the puck slowly, and then when we stopped trying to possess the puck on every change of possession, we got faster. … It was just a slash out on the first goal. Just get it out, get it in, and get it to the net. So I thought we sped up with the puck.”
Forward Sam Bennett scored a goal in his fourth straight game, and Tkachuk recorded his 11th multi-goal game as a Panther.
After Monday’s game, the Panthers travel to Finland for two games against the Dallas Stars in the 2024 Global Series.
Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist for Buffalo in its win against Detroit. Rasmus Dahlin had three assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves for the Sabres.
“I’ve been here a while now and we’ve been with a lot of the same guys,” the 26-year-old Thompson said. “I think just that hunger to win — we’ve learned kind the hard way that these games in the beginning of the season, even though it’s a long season, they add up towards the end.”
Thompson has 10 points (six goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak, but Buffalo center Ryan McLeod saw his four-game goal streak end. Dahlin had his 40th career multi-assist game.
The Sabres racked up major advantages in shot attempts (22-5) and scoring chances (11-2) when Thompson was on the ice at 5-on-5 with linemates JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch.
Peterka has six points in five games since returning from a concussion.
Forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel will be in the lineup on Monday, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff announced. Aube-Kubel has been out since opening night with a lower-body injury.
“(He brings) speed, one of the strongest guys we have on the puck. Was really playing well (before) his injury,” Ruff said of Aube-Kubel, who was signed as a free agent in July.
