Jan 14, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) and Buffalo Sabres center Ryan McLeod (71) look for the puck during the second period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

With the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the Florida Panthers now find themselves three points out of a playoff spot. The Sabres climbed into the first wild card while the idle Boston Bruins slipped into the second. Both teams have 54 points, with Buffalo having played two fewer games. The Cats also have two games in hand on the Bruins, who will host the Seattle Kraken tonight at TD Garden.

After routing the Springfield Thunderbirds 8-2 on Tuesday, the Charlotte Checkers delivered a repeat performance last night, blasting the visitors by the identical score at Bojangles Coliseum. Robert Mastrosimone notched a hat trick, scoring in all three periods, and Ben Steeves, Jack Devine, Nolan Foote, Riese Gaber and Wilmer Skoog also lit the lamp for the Checkers. Assists were credited to Skoog (two), Devine, Trevor Carrick, Jake Livingstone, Brian Pinho, Marek Alscher and Brett Chorske. Cooper Black stopped 16 of 18 shots to record his 15th win of the season.

Arvid Drott, Florida’s sixth-rounder in 2025, drew an assist in Djurgården’s 4-3 shootout win over Brynäs in action from Sweden’s J20 Nationelle. The assist was Drott’s eighth of the season. He now has 19 points in 19 games played.

Tonight in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)

MONTREAL (26-14-7 59P) at BUFFALO (25-16-4 54P) 7 p.m.

Seattle (21-15-9 51P) at BOSTON (26-19-2 54P) 7 p.m.

TORONTO (23-16-7 53P) at Vegas (22-11-12 56P) 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Idle: TBL (61P), DET (60P), BOS (54P), FLA (51P), OTT (49P)