Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres take a five-game road winning streak and three-game overall winning streak into Florida on Tuesday night when they face the Panthers.
If Buffalo beats the Panthers on Tuesday, it’ll mark their longest road winning streak since 2006.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s 2.45 goals-against average has him sixth overall in the league. He likely will start his sixth-straight game in goal on Tuesday.
Jeff Skinner left practice early on Monday, and was off to get some imaging done before the team left later in the afternoon. With Tyson Jost being called up from the Rochester Americans, that likely means Skinner is questionable.
Buffalo has scored three goals in four of its last five games. However, Tuesday will still be a challenge, as Florida has the second-best goals-against average in the NHL at 2.40.
The Panthers haven't allowed more than two goals in any of their last 13 games.
The Sabres have scored a power play goal in three of their last four games.
With Rasmus Dahlin playing 29 minutes a game on a regular basis, he’s fourth in the NHL, averaging 25:40 per-game.
When he was younger, Erik Johnson used to play big minutes for the Colorado Avalanche. He knows how hard it is to do it, especially on a consistent basis.
"It’s honestly a lot harder than it looks," said Johnson on Monday following practice. "The biggest thing I found was you just have to find different places to conserve your energy. You can’t be go, go, go the whole time because you’ll just burn out. So I think he’s really managing his minutes well, picking his spots when he’s jumping into the rush, and that’s the key.
"He can’t take it end-to-end every time, because he won’t have enough juice left. But it’s not an easy job, because you’re matched up against the other team’s top lines and you’re asked to do it all."
Johnson signed with the Sabres this offseason on a one-year deal, meaning he's set to hit the market again this summer. With just 10 days remaining until the NHL Trade Deadline, the question is, would he like to stay in Buffalo or be traded to a playoff team before March 8?
"I’ve never been in this situation before, so it is anxious a little bit. There’s a lot of uncertainty and doubt," Johnson admitted.
"I’m disappointed that we are where we are, and I take some responsibility for that, because I don’t think I’ve helped these guys enough as I should’ve. So I blame myself, but if Kevyn [Adams] comes to me and that’s what he wants to do and it's what’s best for the team, then I’ll go for it and get moved. But right now, I’m just taking it day-by-day and focusing on the team. When that time comes, we’ll talk about it."
The Panthers won the first meeting between these two teams, 4-0. Buffalo is 2-8-1 in its last 10 games against Florida, and 2-7-1 recently in Sunrise.
In their last 26 games, the Panthers are 20-4-2. Florida has won 7-of-8 games and 11-out-of-13.
Sam Reinhart is second in the NHL with 39 goals, but he hasn’t scored one in six games.
Matthew Tkachuk missed one game due to injury, but he’s expected to play on Tuesday.
Carter Verhaeghe is a 30-goal scorer for the Cats, but he hasn’t scored in three games.
Anthony Stolarz shut the Sabres out in that 4-0 win back on Feb. 15, making 45 saves in the process. However, he played the Panthers' last game against the Washington Capitals.
That means Sergei Bobrovsky will be in net against the Sabres on Tuesday. He has given up two or fewer goals in eight-straight games.
The Panthers are two points back of the first place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division, but Florida is actually ahead of Boston with a points percentage of .690.
As a matter of fact, that leads the NHL, as the Winnipeg Jets are right behind at .688.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Don Granato, Johnson and Dylan Cozens.
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