Panthers at Sabres preview

PANTHERS (20-22-6) at SABRES (14-27-9)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-F, NHL.TV

Kane has two points (one goal, one assist) in his past 11 games and no points in six. Eichel has 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in the past 18 games and Okposo has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the past eight.
The Sabres have won three of their past four games but are 0-3-0 in their past three at KeyBank Center. Center Jacob Josefson will return to the lineup after missing the past seven games with a lower-body injury. Chad Johnson will start in goal.
Goalie Harri Sateri, a 28-year-old rookie, will make his fourth straight start for the Panthers. Sateri is coming off his first NHL win on Tuesday, when he made 32 saves in a 4-1 victory against the New York Islanders. The Panthers have lost three of their past four games.

Players to watch

Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games with points in nine out of 10 games.
Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past nine games.

They said it

"Seems like we go on a bit of a hot streak and a bit of a low streak and so we always wind up right around the .500 mark and so if you want to make the playoffs and be able to have a successful season you have to be able to get over those .500 marks and be able to go on road trips like this and be sure you're winning both games and not just one of them. So that was a great game that we had two nights ago but it means nothing if we don't have another one tonight." -- Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson
"I think it'll provide a little spark for him. I thought they had really good chemistry early on and hopefully they can rebuild that chemistry." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley on playing Evander Kane with Jack Eichel

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Maxim Mamin -- Jared McCann -- Connor Brickley
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
Harri Sateri
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Radim Vrbata, Ian McCoshen
Injured: Jamie McGinn (upper body), Roberto Luongo (lower body), James Reimer (lower body)

Sabres projected lineup

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

Status report

Reimer, out since Jan. 25, practiced Thursday. Beaulieu, who has missed the past three games, skated again Thursday.

Stat pack

Barkov will play in his 300th NHL game.... The Panthers lead the NHL in shots per game (34.6) while allowing the most (35.3) ... Eichel has not scored a goal in eight games against the Panthers, one of five teams he hasn't scored against.