Sabres at Flyers preview

SABRES (29-25-8) at FLYERS (29-26-7)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSP, NHL.TV

Montour, a 24-year-old defenseman, was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday for defenseman prospect Brendan Guhle and a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
The Sabres did not hold a morning skate after losing 5-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. They are six points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and one point ahead of the Flyers.
Hartman, a 24-year-old forward, was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Monday for forward Wayne Simmonds. He arrived late for an optional morning skate after passing his physical.
Philadelphia is seven points behind the Hurricanes for the second wild card.

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Players to watch

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist Monday, and has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past two games.
Flyers forward Sean Couturier needs one assist for 200 in the NHL, and he has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"Everybody should be pretty amped up. Hopefully I can bring a positive boost to the dressing room, being vocal as much as I can." -- Sabres defensemen Brandon Montour
"These two games (Tuesday against the Sabres and Thursday at the Columbus Blue Jackets), not that any of them aren't important, but these two games are like playoff games for us. With the stakes being high with these games it should allow us to get our focus on that." -- Flyers coach Scott Gordon, on playing without forward Wayne Simmonds, who was traded Monday

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Conor Sheary -- Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Reinhart
Vladimir Sobotka -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Scott Wilson
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Marco Scandella -- Brandon Montour
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Casey Nelson, Danny O'Regan, Matt Hunwick
Injured: None

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Nolan Patrick -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Scott Laughton -- Michael Raffl
Corban Knight -- Ryan Hartman
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Radko Gudas
Robert Hagg -- Andrew MacDonald
Philippe Myers
Brian Elliott
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Phil Varone
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Carter Hart (ankle), Samuel Morin (knee)

Status report

Mittelstadt will play after being scratched Monday. ... The Flyers will use 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Varone was the last forward off from the morning skate. ... The Flyers sent forward Justin Bailey to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League

Stat pack

Eichel has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak. Skinner has 36 goals, one shy of his NHL best of 37 with the Hurricanes in 2016-17. ... Elliott has a .938 save percentage and 2.28 goals-against average in three games since returning Feb. 19 from a lower-body injury that kept him out three months.