For Casey Mittelstadt and Alexander Nylander, it was a night of firsts as the Buffalo Sabres rookies each scored the first goal of their NHL careers in a 7-5 loss at Tampa.
Tonight, it's the last game of the season. The Sabres are in Sunrise, Florida where they'll take on the Panthers at 7 p.m. Join us for the GMC Game Night pregame show starting at 6:30 on MSG. Dan and Rayzor will then call the action on MSG and WGR 550.
Fan Appreciation Night Goes Digital tonight, too, so make sure you've downloaded My One Buffalo and are registered for the chance to win some great prizes throughout the broadcast.
Here's what you need to know.

About last night

From the Lexus Postgame Report…
Phil Housley spoke Friday morning about the kind of impression a trip to Amalie Arena might make on Casey Mittelstadt and Alex Nylander. As it turned out, the two young forwards managed to make quite an impression themselves.
Mittelstadt and Nylander both scored their first NHL goals within the first seven minutes of the Buffalo Sabres' 7-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, a game in which the Sabres erased deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 before ultimately falling on a pair of third-period goals.

"The good thing is, Casey Mittelstadt scores his first goal," Housley said. "Nylander scores his first goal. Those are great things for these young kids, playing in this building against that team. And the adversity we faced, we found a way to get back in and we kept plugging away, we didn't stop working."

The goal was Mittelstadt's fourth point in five NHL games.
"It's just a bit of relief to get the monkey off your back and now your kind of free to go," he said. "For me it was definitely big, and it will help heading into tomorrow."

"It's, of course, a dream come true," Nylander said. "It's your dream when you were younger, and it was a little surreal moment. Just nice that it went in."
The Sabres have just one game remaining, in Florida on Saturday, and the milestones for the young players didn't quell the disappointment of the players following a third-straight loss.

The goals did, however, serve as a promising sign of things to come.
"I thought those guys played good," Housley said. "Alex, he had a couple tough shifts in the third period, but you can live with the effort. The bottom line is the guys played really hard.
"It's unfortunate because you would have liked to win that game, not just because the guys scored their first goals but just the way we responded in certain situations throughout the game."
Statistically, Brendan Guhle also had a memorable night:

Some positives from the youngsters in the lineup, a few of whom are gearing up for a playoff run with the Rochester Americans once the NHL season wraps up.

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes…
- The Sabres enter tonight's game with a 9-5-1 record in their last 15 road games. - Jack Eichel has 37 points (11+26) in 34 road games this season. Eichel's 1.09 points per game on the road this season ranked as the ninth-best rate in the NHL after last night's game. - Sam Reinhart has totaled 17 points (10+7) in his last 16 road games. - Rasmus Ristolainen has recorded 18 points (4+14) in his last 20 road games. - Ryan O'Reilly has nine points (1+8) in his last eight road games. - Kyle Okposo has five points (3+2) his last five road games. - Jason Pominville has recorded a point in each of his last four road games (3+1).

Fan Appreciation Night Goes Digital tonight

Fans tuned in to MSG for tonight's game will also have a chance to win prizes throughout the broadcast when Fan Appreciation Night Goes Digital.
Registered My One Buffalo members will be able to access a form to enter the contest to win a variety of prizes, including a $500 Key Possibilities gift card courtesy of KeyBank, an overnight stay package from Buffalo Marriott HarborCenter and two tickets to the Sabres' 2018-19 home opener, and two round-trip tickets courtesy of Delta Air Lines.
To participate in this contest, fans can follow the link in the Sabres section of the My One Buffalo app, which will be available from the beginning of the pregame show through the end of the third period. Winners will be announced by Brian Duff during both intermissions and the postgame show on MSG.

PrayForHumboldt

Full reporting of the tragedy can be found here.