Sabres at Panthers preview

SABRES (28-23-7) at PANTHERS (25-24-8)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Reimer made a season-high 41 saves in a 3-2 shootout win against the Calgary Flames on Thursday and 28 saves in a 6-3 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
The Panthers are 8-4-0 in their past 12 games and trail the Canadiens by 11 points for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres have lost two straight by a combined score of 10-3 and are six points behind the Canadiens.
Defensemen Zach Bogosian and Rasmus Ristolainen are game-time decisions for Buffalo after taking maintenance days Monday.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has scored five goals in his past six games. He needs one more to match his NHL career high of 37 set in 2016-17.
Panthers forward Frank Vatrano has scored nine goals in his past 16 games.

They said it

"I believe in our group. I believe in these guys. … We're still in this thing. We're still fighting. That's the way we're going to look at it." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"We're fighting for our lives right now. We're trying to play for a playoff spot. We know we can't take any nights off, even any periods off. Every game is a playoff game. So every game we've got to be ready from the puck drop." -- Panthers forward Frank Vatrano

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Evan Rodrigues -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Sam Reinhart
C.J. Smith -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Tage Thompson
Conor Sheary -- Johan Larsson -- Zemgus Girgensons
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Nathan Beaulieu -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Casey Nelson -- Jake McCabe
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Matt Hunwick, Lawrence Pilut
Injured:Marco Scandella (upper body), Kyle Okposo (concussion)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Frank Vatrano
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Evgenii Dadonov
Derick Brassard -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Denis Malgin
Jayce Hawryluk -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- Josh Brown
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched:Bogdan Kiselevich, Jamie McGinn, Micheal Haley
Injured:Derek MacKenzie (shoulder), MacKenzie Weegar (upper body), Colton Sceviour (wrist)

Status report

Neither team had a morning skate. … Okposo was diagnosed with a concussion. He was injured against the New York Rangers on Friday. … Luongo will back up Reimer after missing the game Sunday while on bereavement leave. …Panthers coach Bob Boughner said he's hoping that Weegar, who will miss his seventh consecutive game, will be cleared by the end of the week.

Stat pack

The Panthers are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games against the Sabres at BB&T Center and have won the past five. … Buffalo is looking to win consecutive games against Florida for the first time since winning three straight during the 2010-11 season.