Flyers, Blackhawks, Sabres, Lightning to Europe in ’19-20

Associated PressMar 21, 2019, 7:45 AM EDT

Jakub Voracek was psyched at the mere suggestion the Philadelphia Flyers might play an NHL game in his native Czech Republic.

”I’m not going to lie to you, it would be great,” Voracek said with a smile. ”Obviously to play an NHL game in your home country, it’d be awesome.”

Voracek will get that chance next season when the Flyers open the regular season against the Chicago Blackhawks in Prague on Oct. 4. The NHL on Thursday announced that matchup and two games between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning in Stockholm in November as part of its now-annual Global Series.

It’s the third consecutive year the NHL is staging regular-season games in Europe and eighth overall. This will be Philadelphia’s first appearance as part of the series.

The games in Stockholm on Nov. 8-9 should feature a handful of Swedes, including Sabres 2018 top pick Rasmus Dahlin and 2018 Lightning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman.

”Yes!” was how Dahlin described his first reaction to learning the news.

”I was so happy. I wanted to have it, but I wasn’t expecting it in my second year,” the 18-year-old following a 4-2 loss to Toronto.

”It’s great for me, but I also think it’s going to be amazing for my family and friends, too, to be able to see a live NHL game,” Dahlin said. ”And me playing there, a lot of them will never have a chance to see me play hockey.”

Dahlin noted it could also be a homecoming for several teammates in a Sabres organization stocked with Swedish-born players. Goalie Linus Ullmark and Johan Larsson are from Sweden, as are minor-league prospects and Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Asplund and Lawrence Pilut. Forward Alexander Nylander was born in Canada, but has represented Sweden on the international stage.

”It’s so fun to share it with other Swedes,” Dahlin said. ”It’s probably the best thing that could happen.”

The Sabres opened the 2011-12 season playing Anaheim at Helsinki, Finland, and then Los Angeles at Berlin, Germany.

This season, the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers opened the regular season in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets played twice in Helsinki.

Like the Devils and Oilers, the Blackhawks and Flyers will finish training camp in Europe and play an exhibition game against a local team. The Blackhawks will go to Germany and face Eisbaren Berlin on Sept. 29, and the Flyers will go to Switzerland and face HC Lausanne on Sept. 30.

The NHL is also expected to have more exhibition games in China, but that matchup has not yet been announced.

WATCH LIVE: Capitals host Sabres on NBCSN

By Sean LeahyDec 21, 2018, 6:00 PM EDT

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Friday night’s matchup between the Buffalo Sabres and the Washington Capitals with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Caps this season, following Washington’s 4-3 shootout win six days ago in D.C. The season series will conclude on Feb. 23 in Buffalo.

Buffalo is coming off a 5-2 loss at home to Florida – a game the Sabres led 2-1 after two periods. Buffalo had been 9-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes this season. In the 10 games since Buffalo’s team-record-tying 10-game win streak, they’ve gone 3-4-3.

The Sabres are getting the vast majority of their offensive production from their top line of Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel, and Sam Reinhart. Skinner has already surpassed his goal total from last season (which was 24 in 82 games with Carolina), so given that he’s in a contract year, more and more attention is being paid to his future.

Though Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet on Wednesday, he’s still scored 29 goals in 33 games, and is on pace to crack the 70-goal barrier. No one has scored 70 goals since Alexander Mogilny (with the Sabres) and Teemu Selanne both scored 76 in 1992-93.

With one more goal, Ovechkin would join former longtime Capital Mike Gartner as the only players in history to score 30-plus goals in each of their first 14 NHL seasons (Gartner did so in his first 15).

[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals
Where: Capital One Arena
When: Friday, Dec. 21, 6 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Sabres-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

SABRES
Jeff Skinner – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary – Vladimir Sobotka – Evan Rodrigues
Zemgus Girgensons – Casey Mittelstadt – Kyle Okposo
Remi Elie – Johan Larsson – Tage Thompson

Rasmus Dahlin – Zach Bogosian
Lawrence Pilut – Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella – Jake McCabe

Starting goalie: Carter Hutton

CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky – Lars Eller – Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson – Nic Dowd – Devante Smith-Pelly

Michal Kempny – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Matt Niskanen
Jonas Siegenthaler – Madison Bowey

Starting goalie: Braden Holtby

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

WATCH LIVE: Maple Leafs, Sabres meet in Atlantic Division clash

By Sean LeahyDec 4, 2018, 6:30 PM EDT

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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Tonight’s matchup features two of the top teams in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs are riding a four-game winning streak and are 11-3-0 in their past 14 games, while the Sabres have dropped three straight, including a 2-1 loss last night to Nashville.

After missing 14 games with a shoulder injury, Auston Matthews has three goals and an assist in two games since his return. Matthews has 13 goals in 13 games this season, the best goals per game mark of any player in the league. Toronto native Jeff Skinner has been electric for Buffalo this season, leading the Sabres with 20 goals (t-2nd in NHL). He had just 24 goals all last season with Carolina and played in all 82 games.

This will be the first of four meetings between these clubs this season. They will also meet in Toronto on Feb. 25 and March 3, before ending their regular season series on March 20 in Buffalo. The Leafs and Sabres have alternated wins and losses over the past six meetings.

[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres
Where: KeyBank Center
When: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Maple Leafs-Sabres stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

MAPLE LEAFS
Zach Hyman – John Tavares – Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen
Par Lindholm – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis – Frederik Gauthier – Andreas Johnsson

Morgan Rielly – Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

Starting goalie: Frederik Andersen

SABRES
Jeff Skinner – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Tage Thompson – Casey Mittelstadt – Kyle Okposo
Remi Elie – Evan Rodrigues – Vladimir Sobotka
Patrik Berglund – Johan Larsson – Zemgus Girgensons

Rasmus Dahlin – Zach Bogosian
Lawrence Pilut – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nathan Beaulieu – Casey Nelson

Starting goalie: Linus Ullmark

Kenny Albert (play-by-play) and Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will have the call from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.