Game Preview | 5 things to know ahead of Sabres at Panthers

UPDATE (5:45 p.m.) - Craig Anderson will start in goal tonight against the Panthers, Don Granato announced. Kale Clague will enter the lineup in place of Jacob Bryson after missing two games with a lower-body injury. - Jourdon LaBarber (@jourdonlabarber)
The Buffalo Sabres can put themselves in a playoff position tonight with a regulation win over the Florida Panthers.
The Sabres are in the thick of the Wild Card chase with 62 points through 56 games. The Red Wings currently sit in the second Wild Card spot, but the Sabres would hold the tiebreaker to put themselves in a playoff position - at least for one night in a very tight race.
Faceoff against the Panthers is at 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage starts at 6:30 on MSG.
Here are five things to know for tonight's game.

1. Looking back at last night

The Sabres are coming off a 6-5 overtime win in Tampa on Thursday.
Tage Thompson recorded his league-leading fourth hat trick of the season, but defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin stole all the headlines with his shorthanded breakaway goal in overtime.
Lyubushkin became just the second Sabre to score a shorthanded overtime goal in franchise history and the first to do it in the regular season. Jason Pominville, of course, eliminated the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 of the second round of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs with an overtime shorty.

To say Lybushkin's teammates were happy to see his first goal of the season come at such a big moment is an understatement.
"He's just a good guy," Thompson said. "He's a guy that comes to the rink every day, works hard, competes for his teammates. He'll do anything for anyone in this room. For him to get rewarded is a great feeling for everyone in this room."

Lyubushkin entered Thursday with three goals in 252 NHL games.
"It's just too good to be true," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Here's a guy who is loved by his teammates the way he is, brings so much positive energy, and he's got a role and a big part of his role is that penalty kill, being ready to block a shot from the shooters that they have.
"Lo and behold, he's in that situation and you just felt, 'This thing's going in. It's going to find a way to go in.'"
Read the full Postgame Report here.
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2. 600 for Girgensons
   Zemgus Girgensons will become the 16th player in franchise history to play in at least 600 games for the Sabres.
   He's the longest tenured Sabre on the team, having made his debut at the start of the 2013-14 season.
   Among skaters who have played 599 or more games with the Sabres, Girgensons ranks 12th in goals scored (78), 15th in assists (91) and points (169) and tied for sixth in shorthanded goals (7).
   He has served as an alternate captain the past two years and has played his entire career to this point in Buffalo.
   ### 3. Head-to-head against Florida
   This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Panthers this season.
   Florida defeated Buffalo 4-1 in Buffalo on January 16 and are 2-0-0 against the Sabres this year. They'll meet again on Saturday, April 4 in Florida.
   The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games against the Panthers, and 2-6-2 in their last 10 on the road.
   This is the 110th game all-time between Buffalo and Florida; Buffalo has a 52-48-9 series record. The Sabres are 22-25-5 on the road against the Panthers all-time.
   Tonight's game concludes Buffalo's 10th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 6-5 overtime victory over Tampa Bay last night. The Sabres are 5-4-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-6-1 in the second game so far this season.
   Buffalo's point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (2), three points (0), two points (2), one point (2) and zero points (3).
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4. Scoreboard watching
   Here are the current Wild Card race standings:
   | Team | GP | Points | Points % | RW | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - New York Islanders | 61 | 67 | .549 | 26 | 30 | | WC2 - Detroit Red Wings | 57 | 64 | .561 | 22 | 26 | | Florida Panthers | 60 | 64 | .533 | 25 | 27 | | Pittsburgh Penguins | 57 | 63 | .553 | 22 | 26 | | Buffalo Sabres | 56 | 29 | .554 | 21 | 28 | | Washington Capitals | 60 | 62 | .517 | 22 | 27 | | Ottawa Senators | 56 | 58 | .518 | 20 | 25 |
   The Ottawa Senators are in Carolina tonight for a 7 p.m. faceoff and at 7:30, the Islanders will host the Kings.
   The Capitals, Penguins, Senators and Red Wings are all in action on Saturday as well.
   ### 5. Next home game
   After tonight's game, the Sabres will be back home on Sunday to face Washington. Alex Ovechkin returned to the Capitals' lineup last night, but they fell to Anaheim 4-2 to extend their losing streak to six games.
   Faceoff on Sunday is at 1 p.m. and tickets are on sale now.
   The game will air on MSG and WGR 550 locally, and NHL Network nationally.