Flyers Game 33: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Sabres

The Philadelphia Flyers (17-9-6) return to the US but stay on the road on Thursday when they face the Buffalo Sabres (14-14-4) at the KeyBank Center at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Philadelphia enters Thursday’s game after a great win vs. the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, bouncing back from three straight overtime losses. The Flyers are 2-0-3 in their last five games.

Buffalo comes into the game on plenty of rest, playing its first game since Sunday. The Sabres have won three straight and are 3-2-0 over their last five games.

Buffalo has found plenty of success with its special teams this season, boasting the 12th-ranked power-play percentage (20.2%) and the 3rd-ranked penalty kill (84.9%). It will be a rough matchup for a struggling Flyers special teams unit.

The Flyers’ best chance on Thursday is to keep the game at 5-on-5, where they have been the much better team, by far.

Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. EST at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Here is how the Flyers are expected to line up.

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Flyers lines & pairs @ Sabres

Forwards

Trevor Zegras–Christian Dvorak–Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov–Noah Cates–Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin–Rodrigo Abols–Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Cam York–Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae-Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler-Rasmus Ristolainen

Goaltenders

Sam Ersson
Dan Vladar

Special Teams
PP1: Sanheim, York, Couturier, Michkov, Konecny
PP2: Drysdale, Cates, Zegras, Tippett, Brink

PK1: Couturier, Dvorak, Seeler, Sanheim
PK 2: Cates, Hathaway, York, Ristolainen

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Things to watch

The last time these two teams met, the Flyers absolutely dominated. It was a great bounce-back game after a tough loss. Philly scored three goals in 59 seconds, including back-to-back power-play goals. In fact, that was the last time they scored a power-play goal. Let’s see if the Flyers can change that on Thursday.

Buffalo has not played since Sunday, meaning that this will be their first game since Kevyn Adams was fired. That usually does not mean much. However, that puts some pressure on the current head coach, Lindy Ruff. With Pete DeBoer and John Tortorella without a job in the league, Jarmo Kekalainen could make a change behind the bench. Maybe that sparks a light under Ruff’s team.

Speaking of Ruff’s team, they have won their last three games, including an OT win in Edmonton vs. the Oilers to kick off the streak. The Flyers will look to put an end to that streak and earn back-to-back wins after three straight losses.

How to watch Flyers @ Sabres

TV: ESPN+, Hulu
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. EST at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.

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