Sabres vs. Flyers | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

The Buffalo Sabres wrap up the 2024-25 season as they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

An up-and-down April has seen the Sabres win five straight games before dropping four in a row. Most recently, on Tuesday, Buffalo matched Toronto’s scoring chances but surrendered three late goals in a 4-0 loss.

Buffalo’s regular season finale is also Fan Appreciation Night, where an Alex Tuch bobblehead (for the first 15,000 fans in attendance) highlights an array of giveaways and promotions at the arena.

• Read: Fan Appreciation Night full details

Here’s what you need to know before puck drop at 7 p.m.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes (updated 6:40 p.m.)

James Reimer occupied the starter's net at the morning skate.

Forward Beck Malenstyn missed the morning skate after being scratched from Tuesday's game due to an undisclosed injury.

Here are the lines from warmups, identical to Tuesday's with the exception of Reimer:

Storylines

1. Last chance

A handful of Sabres are within reach of notable milestones entering this final game.

Tuch, with 35 goals, sits one shy of his career high set in 2022-23. Nineteen of those 35 have come since Feb. 4, and he’s tied with Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead in goals during that span.

Further, with 110 blocked shots, Tuch needs one to tie the single-season record by a forward: Mathieu Dandenault’s 111 in 2006-07. The statistic has only been recorded since 2005-06, but in those two decades, Tuch’s two-way impact ranks among the best – he’s the only forward with 30 or more goals and 100 or more blocks in a season.

Tage Thompson needs three goals to match his career-best 47 from two seasons ago. He’s already notched a pair of hat tricks… can he manage a third? Thompson also sits one behind William Nylander’s 45 goals for second in the league.

Coach Lindy Ruff has been stuck on 899 career wins for more than a week, now. Can he head into the offseason with an even 900? Only four bench bosses – Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Paul Maurice and Barry Trotz – have accomplished the feat.

Here are some more marks achievable in Game 82:

• JJ Peterka, with 26 goals, needs two to match his career high from last season.
• Jason Zucker, with 31 assists, needs one to set a new career high.
• Jack Quinn, with 37 points (14+23), needs one to set a new career high.

2. Rick Martin Award

Tuch was announced Wednesday as the winner of the Rick Martin Memorial Award. This marks his third straight year receiving the fan-voted honor, which is presented annually to the player who best embodies what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre.

• Read more: Tuch wins 2024-25 Rick Martin Memorial Award

3. Scouting the Flyers

The Flyers fired head coach John Tortorella on March 27 during a six-game losing streak. Beginning that night, they’ve gone 5-2-1 under interim coach Brad Shaw.

The second of those games came March 29 versus the Sabres, a 7-4 Flyers win. Buffalo led 3-2 halfway through the game thanks to three points (2+1) from Quinn, but Philadelphia stormed back with four unanswered goals.

Buffalo also lost 5-2 in Philadelphia in Nov. 16 and has been outscored a combined 12-6 in two games this season.

Rookie Matvei Michkov is tied for the team lead with 24 goals, including two in that March 27 matchup, but he hasn’t scored in six games since. Travis Konecny has five points (2+3) against Buffalo and 75 (24+51) this season, leading the Flyers for a fourth straight year.

Game notes

• Dahlin leads NHL defensemen with 13 points (4+9) since March 27, and he’s tallied multiple points in six of 10 games during that span.
• Thompson continues to lead the NHL with 37 even-strength goals. That’s the most by a Sabre since Alexander Mogilny’s franchise-record 49 in 1992-93.