The Buffalo Sabers and Florida Panthers meet Friday in NHL action at the BB&T Center.

The Buffalo Sabers look for a bounce back victory after winning 10 of their last 11 games. The Buffalo Sabers are averaging three goals per game and are scoring on 19.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Jeff Skinner leads Buffalo with 19 goals, Jack Eichel has 23 assists and Jason Pominville has 56 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabers are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 81.9 percent of their opponents power plays. Carter Hutton has given up 46 goals on 578 shots faced and Linus Ullmark has allowed 17 goals on 230 shots. The Buffalo Sabers have allowed three or less goals in eight of their last 10 games.

The Florida Panthers could use a feel good win here after losing six of their last eight games. The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 25.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Mike Hoffman leads Florida with 12 goals, Jonathan Huberdeau has 19 assists and Evgenii Dadonov has 63 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 3.6 goals per game and are killing 76.4 percent of their opponents power plays. Roberto Luongo has given up 23 goals on 234 shots faced and James Reimer has allowed 41 goals on 387 shots. The Florida Panthers have allowed three or more goals in their last eight games.

The Sabres are 31-79 in their last 110 games playing on 0 days rest, 8-17 in their last 25 Friday games and 11-1 in their last 12 overall. The Panthers are 25-11 in their last 36 home games, 2-5 in their last 7 games playing on 1 days rest and 1-4 in their last 5 overall. The Sabres are 0-4 in the last 4 meetings in Florida and 7-20 in the last 27 meetings. The under is 6-2 in Sabres last 8 overall. The over is 6-2 in Panthers last 8 overall.

The Florida Panthers have the rest advantage and have played their best hockey by far on their home ice. The problem is the Panthers have been a joke defensively and things get even worse whenever Luongo isn't in net. The Buffalo Sabers have been the hottest team in the league over these last two weeks and are head and shoulders the most profitable NHL team up to this point. It's tough to turn down the Sabres and the plus money given the circumstances.