The Philadelphia Flyers opted to stay off the ice Sunday morning, ahead of their game Sunday night against the visiting Buffalo Sabres (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2), one day after their 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins, their third straight defeat.

After the game Saturday, coach Peter Laviolette convened a team meeting, followed by the players having a private meeting.

The defeat dropped the Flyers to 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, and after entering the week with two straight wins, they were swept in games against the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Bruins, two of which they held leads in only to see them given away.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Buffalo Sabres enter Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2) 14th in the Eastern Conference, but the signs of improvement have been there recently. And facing a Flyers team that's lost three in a row, including a 3-0 defeat at the Boston Bruins on Saturday, could have the Sabres in the perfect spot to steal two points.

"I'm sure they're going to want to come out strong," Sabres captain Jason Pominville told NHL.com. "Obviously we've heard about how they've been going through a bit of a tough go, had a big meeting [Saturday] and everything. I'm sure they're going to want to have a big start. We're going to have to make sure we can calm that storm right off the bat and be ready to play after that. They're a team we're trying to catch, they're ahead of us right now, and it’s a big game for us."

The Sabres have earned points in five of the eight games since Ron Rolston took over as interim coach (3-3-2), and enter Sunday just two points behind the 11th-place Flyers. However, the Sabres have played to a shootout in four of their previous five games, giving teams ahead of them just enough to keep the Sabres stuck near the bottom of the standings.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here are the projected lineups for tonight's game between the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center:

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows

Chris Higgins - Mason Raymond - Jannik Hansen

David Booth - Maxim Lapierre - Zack Kassian

Tom Sestito - Jordan Schroeder - Dale Weise

Dan Hamhuis - Jason Garrison

Alexander Edler - Christopher Tanev

Andrew Alberts - Cam Barker

Cory Schneider

Roberto Luongo

Martin Biron will make his fourth start of the season in goal when the New York Rangers face the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

In three previous starts and one relief appearance, Biron has a 1-1-1 record with a 2.50 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.

Braden Holtby (9-7-0, 2.87 GAA, .911 save percentage) will be in net for the Capitals.

The Colorado Avalanche have activated defenseman Ryan Wilson from injured reserve and placed forward Milan Hejduk on IR retroactive to March 3.

Wilson, who hasn't played since Feb. 2, has three assists in eight games this season.

Hejduk, who has three goals and nine points in 20 games this season, suffered a torso injury.

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer confirmed on Saturday night that goalie Johan Hedberg would start between the pipes when his team faces the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at Prudential Center.

Hedberg was yanked from Saturday's match against the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in three starts after yielding five goals on 18 shots. Rookie Jeff Frazee replaced Hedberg to open the third period and made three saves on three shots in a 6-3 loss.

"When you look at our schedule we've got back-to-back [games]. It made no sense to keep Heddy in there," DeBoer told reporters after the loss. "He's got to play again [Sunday]. It's our fifth game this week, so it was a decision more about energy than anything."

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Phoenix Coyotes look to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season Saturday against the Dallas Stars and will have a new face in the lineup with Rob Klinkhammer making his Phoenix debut in place of injured Matthew Lombardi. Klinkhammer has 14 goals and 44 points in 53 games with Portland of the American Hockey League.

Mike Smith will be back in goal. One of his three shutouts this season has come in Glendale against Dallas, a 2-0 blanking on Feb. 2. But Smilth has struggled mightily of late, allowing 18 goals in his past four starts and watching his goals-against average soar to 3.09 and his save percentage sink to .894.

The Calgary Flames announced Saturday they have activated center Mikael Backlund from injured reserve. The 23-year-old has been out of the Flames lineup since Feb. 7, when he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain during the team's 4-3 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Prior to his injury, Backlund had three goals and four points in eight games this season.

In order to open a roster spot for Backlund, the Flames reassigned rookie Sven Baertschi to the Abbottsford Heat of the American Hockey League.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter continued Saturday to stand behind his star goaltender.

Jonathan Quick allowed four goals in a loss Thursday against the Dallas Stars, but Sutter liked what he saw from Quick when the netminder relieved Jonathan Bernier in a win Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Quick is expected to start Saturday when the Kings host the Calgary Flames at Staples Center.

Quick has not appeared as sharp as last season, posting a 7-7-2 record and 2.59 goals-against record. His backup, Bernier, is 5-1-0 with a 1.92 GAA.

“He’s got to get the swagger back,” Sutter said of Quick following his team's morning skate. “As well as Bernier’s played, the last guy that’s won us a game is Jonathan Quick. He came off the bench and won us a game. That’s character. That’s character in battle, so that’s a really good thing.”

The Kings held an optional skate but their lineup appears to be the same.

Here is their projected lineup against the Flames:

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Washington Capitals make their only visit of the season to the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday afternoon as the New York Islanders wrap up a seven-game homestand. The Capitals are coming off a 7-1 win against Florida at home on Thursday, the same night the Islanders lost 2-1 in overtime to the New York Rangers.

Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who missed the Islanders' last two games for person reasons, is back and will be a game-time decision.

Washington will give rookie Philipp Grubauer his first NHL start in goal, with Braden Holtby likely to play against the Rangers on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

Here is the tentative lineup for the Islanders:

Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Brad Boyes

Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Kyle Okposo

Michael Grabner – Marty Reasoner – David Ullstrom

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin McDonald

Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic

Mark Streit - Lubomir Visnovsky/Joe Finley

Thomas Hickey - Radek Martinek

Evgeni Nabokov

Kevin Poulin