BUFFALO – The Florida Panthers will look to pick up their first road win of the season when they battle the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Dealing with some early-season adversity, the Panthers will take the ice without two of their top forwards in Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).
Adam Boqvist (upper body) will return to the lineup after sitting out the last game, while rookie forward Patrick Giles was called up from the AHL on Friday.
With these changes, the Panthers will deploy 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
“Next man up,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “We started off last year missing key players. You never want to lose anybody, but we’ll have a next-man-up mentality, and everyone will have to step up their game.”
Sitting at 1-1-0, the Panthers opened their four-game trip with a 3-1 loss in Ottawa.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Panthers were in control for much of the next 40 minutes, but couldn’t find the goals they needed outside of a blast from Gustav Forsling.
In the end, Florida finished with a 37-18 edge in scoring chances.
Helping the Senators hold on, former Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, debuting with his new team, made 31 saves, while the skaters in front of him blocked a whopping 30 shots.
“I think we’ve played five out of six really good periods,” Rodrigues said. “The goalie made some big saves for them last game. For the most part, I feel like we’ve gotten to our identity pretty quickly and playing the way we know makes us successful. We’ll just stick to that.”
In addition to losing the game, the Panthers also lost their captain.
Crashing feet-first into the end boards after getting tied up with Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle while trying to prevent an empty-net goal, Barkov left the game and did not return.
Following this morning’s skate, head coach Paul Maurice said he’s week to week.
“We think two to three weeks,” Maurice said of Barkov’s recovery timeline. “We think that’s probably the right window on him. He’s a strong healer. He’s just a big powerful man, puts a lot of torque on his joints. We’re optimistic, I think very optimistic, that he’ll play in Finland.”
Set to make his NHL debut, Giles is excited to help the Panthers in their time of need.
"I'm thrilled to be here,” said the 23-year-old, who had a very impressive training camp. “Obviously, it's the first game for me. I couldn't be more excited. ... It was nice getting a lot of preseason games in and just jelling with the guys here. It feels like I’ve played more.”
Still in search of their first win of the season, the Sabres opened their campaign with back-to-back losses to the Devils at the 2024 Global Series in Czechia. In their first game back in North America, they gave up three third-period goals in a 3-1 loss to the Kings on Thursday.
Sitting at 0-3-0, Buffalo has yet to score more than one goal in a game.
Alex Tuch leads the Sabres with two points (one goal, one assist), while five other players have tallied a point. Dealing with injuries, JJ Peterka will miss his second straight game with a concussion, while Nicola Aube-Kubel is out for multiple weeks with a lower-body injury.
“They’re really talented team,” Forsling said of the Sabres. “They’re fast. Their a young team over there that’s ready to get their first win.”
After making 34 saves in his first start of the season against the Devils on Oct. 5, Devon Levi is expected to get the nod in net tonight for the Sabres. Originally a seventh-round pick of the Panthers in 2020, Levi went 10-8-2 with a .899 save percentage as a rookie last season.
Levi was traded to Buffalo in the trade that brought Sam Reinhart to Florida in 2021.
For the Panthers, Spencer Knight will make his first start of the season.
In his final preseason start, he stopped 26 of 27 shots in an overtime win at Tampa Bay.
“He had a really good camp,” Maurice said. “He’s more powerful and faster than he was.”
THEY SAID IT
“I was gone for a couple days. Now that I’m back, it feels like I never left.” – Patrick Giles
“If we move our feet, we’re going to find lanes. It starts with us defensemen from the blue line.” – Gustav Forsling
“You always try to let them know just to play their game. It’s going to be a big moment for him (Patrick Giles) and his family. You’re living out a childhood dream, but once that puck drops just play your game. Keep things simple.” – Evan Rodrigues
FIVE CATS STATS
- Sam Bennett enters tonight’s game on a two-game point streak.
- The Panthers are 17-4-1 against the Sabres dating back to the 2017-18 season.
- Jonah Gadjovich leads the Panthers with nine hits.
- Gustav Forsling is expected to skate in his 400th NHL game tonight.
- Uvis Balinskis leads the Panthers with a 80.89 xGF% at 5-on-5.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer – Jesper Boqvist – Mackie Samoskevich
Jonah Gadjovich – Patrick Giles
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Adam Boqvist
Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Oct. 11: F Patrick Giles recalled to Florida
- Oct. 9: F MacKenzie Entwistle and G Chris Driedger assigned to Charlotte (AHL) | G Spencer Knight recalled to Florida
- Oct. 8: Carter Verhaeghe signed an eight-year contract extension starting in 2025-26.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: KeyBank Center – Buffalo, NY
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click to View Participating Bars & Restaurants
