Sabres at Blackhawks | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

CHICAGO – The Buffalo Sabres take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday at 8:30 p.m. EDT at United Center.

Two regular season games remain for Buffalo to reignite its power play and finalize the best lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs, but the math now is simple:

• Two more points will secure home-ice advantage in the first round.
• Three more points will secure an Atlantic Division title.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs start this weekend, and the Sabres will finally be participating. For now, though, it’s business as usual for coach Lindy Ruff and his team.

• Info | Single-game playoff tickets go on sale Monday
• Playoff plans | Party in the Plaza, rally towels and more

“We’ve talked about where we wanted to be, and this is where we want to be,” Ruff said. “We know hard it’s been, and we know how hard it’s going to continue to be. It’s not taking anything for granted. We’ve love to win these last two games. We focus in on Chicago and go from there.”

Here are all the details before Monday’s puck drop.

How to watch

TV (Sabres broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 8 p.m.)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes (updated 8:10 p.m.)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will get the start in net. He’s got nine wins and a .937 save percentage in his last 13 road games.

The only change from Thursday's lines against Columbus is Conor Timmins in for Zach Metsa on defense. In four games since returning from injury, Timmins is plus-three with two assists and a 16:47 average time on ice.

Here's the full lineup from warmups:

Notable numbers

• Regardless of Monday’s outcome, the Sabres (currently 23-13-4) will finish with the fifth-best road record in franchise history.
• A win would give the Sabres their fifth winning streak of four-plus games this season. They had four such streaks the previous three seasons combined.
• The Sabres are 20-7-3 (.717) versus Western Conference opponents this season.
• Rasmus Dahlin has 19 goals and 72 points this season, both one short of his career highs.
• Tage Thompson needs two goals to secure his third 40-goal season.
• Zach Benson has 12 points (5+7) in his last 14 games. More on his and his line’s production in Sunday’s practice report.

Scouting the Blackhawks

Chicago had a promising start to the season, but a 9-17-7 record over the last 35 games ensures it will finish last in the Central Division for a fourth straight season.

Though he cooled off a bit after a midseason injury, Connor Bedard still has a career-high 73 points (30+43) in 67 games in his third NHL season. And the Blackhawks recently called up 2025 third-overall pick Anton Frondell, who has nine points (3+6) in 10 games.

The Sabres are riding a five-game winning streak and nine-game point streak (8-0-1) versus Chicago, most recently winning 9-3 at KeyBank Center back in November.