FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers will continue to ice a patchwork lineup on Monday night when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to Sunrise on Vamos Gatos Night.
Florida will again be without top forwards Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell tonight.
On Monday morning, Lundell was on the ice for the morning skate — but he will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury.
Marchand did not skate, but Paul Maurice said he could play in one of the final two games before the Olympic break.
A member of Team Canada, Marchand will miss his second straight game with the lower-body injury that initially cost his seven games in January.
This is an important game for both teams.
Buffalo comes into the night after losing 4-2 at home to Montreal on Saturday but continues to hold an eight-point lead on the Panthers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres play in Sunrise tonight and in Tampa on Tuesday.
Alex Lyon returns to Sunrise after having his team-record 10-game winning streak snapped against the Canadiens.
He will start tonight.
NOTES: SABRES at PANTHERS
Starting Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky will be back for the Panthers; Lyon goes for Buffalo.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local television today. To stream, use Panthers+ locally or ESPN+ nationally.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are slight favorites (-12) on the money line at the local book. To win with Florida, a $120 bet wins $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 55
BUFFALO SABRES at FLORIDA PANTHERS
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (28-23-3) LINES
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
15 Sandis Vilmanis // 79 Cole Schwindt // 10 A.J. Greer
70 Jesper Boqvist // 71 Luke Kunin // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 26 Uvis Balinskis
22 Toby Bjornfot // 2 Jeff Petry
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
40 Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Brad Marchand (lower body), Anton Lundell (upper body), Seth Jones (collarbone), Sasha Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED BUFFALO SABRES (31-18-5) LINES
6 Zach Benson // 72 Tage Thompson // 89 Alex Tuch
17 Jason Zucker // 71 Ryan McLeod // 22 Jack Quinn
91 Josh Doan // 19 Peyton Krebs // 86 Noah Ostlund
63 Isak Rosen // 48 Tyson Kozak // 29 Beck Malenstyn
23 Mattias Samuelsson // 26 Rasmus Dahlin
4 Bowen Byram // 25 Owen Power
73 Zach Metsa // 8 Michael Kesselring
34 Alex Lyon
92 Colten Ellis
Scratched: Jacob Bryson, Konsta Helenius
Injured: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body), Jordan Greenway (middle body), Josh Norris (upper body), Josh Dunne (middle body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jiri Kulich (blood clot), Justin Danforth (lower body)
