Sabres at Flyers preview

SABRES (10-22-9) at FLYERS (18-15-8)
1 p.m. ET; SN, NBCSP, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Sabres have lost three consecutive games (0-2-1). They're 1-3-2 since a 4-2 win against the Flyers at KeyBank Center on Dec. 22.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jack Eichel has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his past 16 games.

Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth will make his first start since a 3-1 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 28, when he sustained a lower-body injury. He was activated from injured reserve Dec. 26 but has played one period in the past four games, replacing Brian Elliott at the start of the third in a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

They said it

"There's bits and pieces of our game that are good, but there's a lack of consistency throughout the whole game. Little details every shift that can make a difference." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley after a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday
"This is short-lived. Can sit back and enjoy this for the next 30 minutes or so, and then got to park it and move on to the next challenge which is here [Sunday]." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol after the 6-3 win against the Blues on Saturday

Sabres projected lineup

Zemgus Girgensons -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Evander Kane -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson -- Evan Rodrigues -- Jason Pominville
Johan Larsson -- Jacob Josefson -- Benoit Pouliot
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Josh Gorges -- Zach Bogosian
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jake McCabe
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
Scratched: Jordan Nolan, Justin Falk
Injured: Victor Antipin (illness)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal -- Nolan Patrick -- Wayne Simmonds
Jori Lehtera -- Scott Laughton -- Tyrell Goulbourne
Ivan Provorov -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hagg -- Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Michal Neuvirth
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Dale Weise, Taylor Leier, Travis Sanheim
Injured:None

Status report

Pouliot returns to the lineup after being scratched against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. … Neuvirth is expected to be the only lineup change for the Flyers.

Stat pack

Kane has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 21 games against the Flyers, the second-most he has against any team (25 points against the Carolina Hurricanes). … Giroux has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past two games and 23 (three goals, 20 assists) in his past 14.