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The Sabres embark on their first road trip of the season this year, heading down to Florida to take on the Florida Panthers tonight and the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night. The Sabres will face a Panthers team that has come swinging out of the gates. Stalwart goaltender Luongo and his partner Montoya have combined .968 sv % to start the season, only allowing 3 goals so far. The Panthers and the Sabres will be looking to build off impressive wins against the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets. Luongo is expected to start tonight The Panthers went 4-0-1 vs Buffalo last year, although that might be a team's worst record against us last year for all we know Gionta is expected to make his season debut. Here's the game preview http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/preview?id=2015020055&navid=sb:preview&intcmpid=sb-preview If the Sabres hope to make the playoffs this season, the Panthers are a good measuring stick

The Buffalo Sabres continue their road trip tonight in Sunrise, Florida as they take on division rivals the Florida Panthers in a key Thursday night showdown. The Sabres, 5-2 in their past 7 games, look to continue the hot streak and vault into the playoff picture, as a win tonight could see them in 4th in the Atlantic Division (even typing that idiotic name pisses me off). Coming off a huge win in Tampa Tuesday night, which saw Eichel collect his first road goal, assist, and points; Franson his first goal as a Sabre; Foligno his first goal of the season; Chad Johnson's streak of making at least one miraculous save extended, and the Sabres first win against the Lightning, the Sabres will look to continue take advantage of a Barkov-less Panthers team that has been struggling lately. Florida is 1 point ahead of the Sabres. As mentioned, Florida is in some rough shape, It's been 3 weeks without their top center, the young Alexander Barkov, and boy do they miss him. Florida (3-4-3 in their last 10), is coming off a 4-3 win vs the Flames, have scored less than 2 goals in 5/6 games, has given up 20 goals in those last 6 games as well, and had lost 5 straight prior to beating the Flames. The Sabres lost in Florida in the only match-up this season thus far, falling 3-2 on goals from McCabe and Ennis. Look for Luongo to start, I will post the Sabres starting goalie once I know in the a.m. Barkov is expected to resume skating today after suffering a broken hand, but is day-to-day. Mike Weber is out, and back in Buffalo with an LBI. Game Preview Stats: Game 1: 3-2 Loss Team Comparison Chart All Team Rankings Wednesday's Practice Report The lines below are from the previous game, no line combinations were released Wednesday, I will update these as well in the a.m. Forwards: 26 Matt Moulson – 90 Ryan O'Reilly – 12 Brian Gionta 88 Jamie McGinn – 15 Jack Eichel – 63 Tyler Ennis 22 Johan Larsson – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 23 Sam Reinhart 44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 17 David Legwand – 82 Marcus Foligno Defense: 4 Josh Gorges – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 29 Jake McCabe – 46 Cody Franson 25 Carlo Colaiacovo– 3 Mark Pysyk 6 - Mike Weber 35 Linus Ullmark 31 Chad Johnson

Facts about Panthers: - They're like your cat, but bigger. - The average Panther weighs somewhere around 190 lbs, is around 6 feet in length, and is worth millions of dollars. - The long claws on a Panther make them perfect for maneuvering on the ice, as well as climbing trees. - The dominate male of the pack often depicts his dominance with a prominent mane extending exclusively from the back. The front is for business only - The pack as a whole is 5-4-1 in their last 10 hunts, including a 3-0 ambush loss at the hands of the rival Red Wings - Panthers can roar in Canadian, Finnish, Czech, American, and Floridian, the last of which is merely a 911 call - Panthers only gather during mating season with 82 annual rituals. The last time bonus humps were awarded was 2011-2012, but that party was ruined by the Devil - The Florida Panther is not a real panther, it's actually a cougar. Oddly fitting, given Florida's demographic - I once saw a Jaguar eat an alligator. Jaguar's are actually Panthers, sometimes - Panthers are often dominated and abused by their older rival in the animal kingdom, horses The Sabres, on the other hand, will look to reverse their fortune and get back to their winning ways. Coming of a 2-1 OT loss to the refs last Saturday night, Buffalo and the insanity encapsulated that is Robin Lehner will look to chuck pucks instead of helmets this time around and come out with the W. Buffalo has lost 2 straight OT games, one being the Skills Competition, and both at the hands of the Boston Bruins. The good news is, Robin Lehner appears to not only be the emotional catalyst necessary to drive some life into this team, but he's also slowly melting away the fear that GMTM paid too much for a replaceable part. Combine Lehner's play with the addition of a likely top 10 pick and the continued development of Kane, Eichel, Risto, Reinhart, and Zemgus, and it looks like National Geographic will have to do a special on us next year as the surprising upstart rising to the playoffs. Look for Lehner vs. Luongo; Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons are both questionable, with Marcus likely playing. Barkov ruled out with an UBI on a big hit from Abdelkader last night. The is a huge, huge loss for the Panthers Game Preview STATS: All Stats Buffalo @ Florida (3-2 loss) All Stats Buffalo @ Florida (3-2 win) All Stats Florida @ Buffalo (5-1 loss) All Team Rankings Team Comparison Chart Monday Practice Report Forwards: 88 Jamie McGinn – 90 Ryan O'Reilly – 23 Sam Reinhart 9 Evander Kane – 22 Johan Larsson – 12 Brian Gionta 26 Matt Moulson – 15 Jack Eichel – 82 Marcus Foligno 43 Daniel Catenacci – 17 David Legwand – 44 Nicolas Deslauriers Blue-Liners: 4 Josh Gorges – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 29 Jake McCabe – 47 Zach Bogosian 6 Mike Weber – 3 Mark Pysyk 25 Carlo Colaiacovo – 46 Cody Franson Captain Insaneo: 40 Robin Lehner 31 Chad Johnson

Yooouuuuurrrrr Buffalo Sabres will become your local zoo Tuesday night as they look to tame the ferocious Florida Panthers in a division grudge match that pits those who are free-falling vs those that are sky rocketing. The Sabres, unfortunately, are the former. Stuck at 4 straight losses and a continuing downward trend further and further away from that elusive .500 mark, Buffalo will look to rebound against a tough Panthers team tonight. The Sabres seem to play the wrong game on the wrong nights; we score 3 goals over 3 games with great goal tending, and then scoring 3 in one game and Johnson blows it. But hey, Jagr is due for a stroke and I hear panthers don't do well this far north, so we could have something here. The Panthers meanwhile, are the hottest team in the league (seriously this is become bull-######. I write a ton of these, and Detroit, Washington, LA, and Dallas all had like 7 game winning streaks when we met them. ###### A'.) Florida has won a franchise record 9 straight, as Barkov and Jagr have become the leagues new dynamic duo and Luongo looks like the goalie that took the Canucks to the Cup. Guess who sits at the top of our division right now? No, not Montreal, and no, not Tampa Bay. Yes, it's these Florida Panthers. They've started selling out crowds and the kids look for real. Look for Ullmark to start (thank God), and Luongo to get the start. The Panthers are without David Bolland, and the Sabres are without Pysyk, Ennis, and Des. Schaller has been called up to become Matt Ellis 2.0 Game Preview STATS: All Stats Buffalo @ Florida (3-2 loss) All Stats Buffalo @ Florida (3-2 win) All Team Rankings Team Comparison Chart Monday Practice Report (Lines per Liger) Forwards: Kane - O'Reilly - Reinhart Girgensons - Eichel - McGinn Moulson - Larsson - Gionta Foligno - Schaller - Legwand Defense: Gorges - Ristolainen McCabe - Bogosian Colaiacovo - Franson Weber - Pysyk Goalies: The Swede We Need