Game #4

Buffalo saber (0-3-0) vs. Florida Panthers (1-1-0)

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. EDT | KeyBank Center

TV: MSG-B, ESPN+

Know your opponent

Florida Panthers

Record: 1-1-0 | 3 PTS

Last game: 3-1 loss to Ottawa

Division ranking: 5

PP: 0.0% (0/8 chances)

PK: 71.4% (5/7 killed)

1. Visit from the Stanley Cup Champions

The Sabers were better the other night against the Kings, but remain winless in the new season. Defeating a stubborn defending champion is always a tall order, so the Sabers will need to be at their absolute best tonight to have a chance at the Panthers.

2. More irritation beckons

Buffalo is winless in three games to start, but what’s even more concerning is how lackluster the performances have been. The big offseason move of bringing back Lindy Ruff to increase accountability within the roster sounded good on paper and made for a few catchy soundbites and video clips of players looking gassed during training camp, but if that was anything to go by , that would translate into more solid performances on ice as the season began. That hasn’t happened yet.

Buffalo has scored just three goals in its first three games, its slowest start to the season since just two goals at the start of the 2013-14 season. If they don’t pot up more tonight, the Sabers could very well lose again and slip to 0-0-4 and have a big early hole to get out of, even with 78 games left to play after that.

3. This power play

The Sabers have pretty much the worst power play in the league. With 11 attempts on the man advantage and no goals scored, there is no other team in the NHL that has had as many power play opportunities without scoring. The coaches may have changed, but the PP still looks slow and plodding, even when they get the puck into the attacking zone, but then they immediately turn the puck over, either looking for the perfect pass or with a one-time shot past the first defender.

Having both Dahlin and Power on the first power play unit seemed to bring some stability against the Kings. We’ll see how it works again tonight.

Buffalo saber

Forward

Zach Benson – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jiri Kulich – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Jason Zucker
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

defense

Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju
Bowen Byram-Owen Power
Mattias Samuelsson – Connor Clifton

Goalkeeper: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi (expected starter)

Florida Panthers

Forward

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
AJ Greer – Jesper Boqvist – Mackie Samoskevich
Jonah Gadjovich – Patrick Giles – Nate Schmidt

defense

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Adam Boqvist

Goalkeeper: Sergei Bobrovsky, Spencer Knight (planned starter)