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

Way back in October, this magical Buffalo Sabres season began against the New York Rangers – with a 4-0 loss.

It can be easy to forget now, given the divergent paths the two teams took this season. The Rangers – perennially a playoff team in recent years – were eliminated last month. The Sabres are vying for an Atlantic Division title with four games to go.

Buffalo got some help to that end on Tuesday in the form of a 6-2 loss for Tampa Bay. Montreal won, meanwhile, setting up our current scenario: the Sabres, Lightning and Canadiens, all tied with 102 points and all having four games left to play.

Needless to say, these last four games will go a long way in determining the Sabres’ first-round playoff opponent – it could be Montreal, Tampa Bay or a wild card team – along with home-ice advantage in Round 1 and beyond.

The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

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How to watch

TV (nationally): TNT, truTV

Streaming: HBO Max

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes (12:10 p.m.)

The Sabres are expected to have some fresh bodies in the lineup, including Tanner Pearson at forward and Michael Kesselring on defense.

Pearson will enter the lineup in place of Jordan Greenway, who’s played four straight games after missing more than two months to recover from a middle-body injury. The Sabres opted to rest Greenway with another game due up at home on Thursday.

“[Greenway] is good,” Ruff said. “He’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow. These last four games, there’s guys we want to see play.”

Kesselring will play for the first time since March 10. He’s been limited to 32 games this year as the result of early-season injuries and recently has been the odd-man out in a nine-man defense corps that added Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn at the trade deadline.

Kesselring spent the morning skate on a defense pair with Conor Timmins, who last played March 28 vs. Seattle.

“Listen, we’ve got nine defensemen that can play. I’ve talked to all the defensemen about it, that down the stretch here everybody’s going to get their opportunity to play.

“They say, ‘When preparation and opportunity meet, you’ve got a chance for success.’ So, you get your opportunity, you’ve had time to prepare for it. They understand what they got to bring. But we know we’re going to need all the guys we got.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start in goal. He has a .929 save percentage in eight career games against the Rangers.

Here's the full projected lineup based on the morning skate:

Numbers to know

• The Sabres’ 102 points are their most in a single season since their franchise-record 113 in 2006-07.
• Josh Norris has four points (1+3) in his last four games, including a goal in the win over the Lightning on Monday.
• Ryan McLeod has 11 points (5+6) in 10 career matchups with the Rangers.

Scouting the Rangers

The Rangers have won five of their last six games, including a combined 12 goals scored in wins over the playoff-contending Red Wings and Capitals this past weekend.

Twenty-year-old rookie Gabe Perreault scored a hat trick in the 4-2 win over the Red Wings on Saturday (which officially clinched the Sabres’ playoff berth). Third-year forward Will Cuylle had his own hat trick in the 8-1 win over the Capitals.

Wednesday marks the Rangers’ final game of the season at Madison Square Garden, so look for starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin to get the start. He’s got a .912 save percentage in 49 games this season.