Florida (10-17-6) at Buffalo (23-5-2) 7:00 pm EST

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Sabres Get Lift From Vanek, Afinogenov

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
FLA	35-31-16	23-12-6	12-19-10	13-14-5	33-26-13
BUF	53-22-7	28-10-3	25-12-4	18-11-3	47-19-6
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
245	Goals	298
249	Goals Against	238
61	Power Play Goals	71
78	Power Play Goals Allowed	72
5	Shorthanded Goals	8
6	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	13
1181	Penalty Minutes	1200
14	Average Penalty Minutes	15

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Ed Belfour	58	27	152	2.77	1	1398	.902
	Alex Auld	27	7	82	3.35	1	647	.888
	Craig Anderson	5	1	8	2.21	0	108	.931
	Ryan Miller	63	40	168	2.73	2	1718	.911
	Martin Biron	19	12	54	3.04	0	479	.899
	Ty Conklin	5	1	13	3.43	0	107	.892

Team Stat Leaders
G	Olli Jokinen 39	Thomas Vanek 43
A	Olli Jokinen 52	Danny Briere 63
PTS	Olli Jokinen 91	Danny Briere 95
PIM	Steve Montador 119	Adam Mair 128
SOG	Olli Jokinen 351	Thomas Vanek 237

Florida (10-17-6) at Buffalo (23-5-2) 7:00 pm EST

BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres have been a juggernaut this season, but not against the Florida Panthers.

The first-place Sabres will host the Panthers on Thursday in the third meeting between the teams this season.

Both members of the Eastern Conference, the teams could not be farther apart. Florida is 14th in a 15-team conference, while Buffalo leads with 23 wins and 48 points.

However, the teams have split their two contests this season. On November 10, Thomas Vanek's goal in overtime lifted the Sabres to a 5-4 victory. Less than a month later, the Panthers were able to avenge the loss with a 3-1 victory in Florida on December 7.

Daniel Briere set up three goals on odd-man rushes and Ryan Miller came within 40 seconds of his second shutout of the season as the Sabres halted New Jersey's five-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday. Buffalo has won two straight.

Nathan Horton netted his ninth goal, Drew Larman collected his second and Alex Auld stopped 31 shots for the Panthers in a 5-4 loss to Anaheim on Tuesday. Florida has dropped nine of its last 11 contests.

Buffalo is 17-6-3 at home all-time vs. the Panthers.