Carolina Hurricanes (26-15-3, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Buffalo Sabres (16-22-5, in the Atlantic Division) Buffalo, New York; Wednesday, 6 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres face the Carolina Hurricanes in Eastern Conference play.

The Carolina Hurricanes held a morning skate at Lenovo Center on Friday morning before their final matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights of the regular season.

The Sabres power play ranks sixth in the NHL since Dec. 21 with a 32.1-percent conversion rate (9-for-28). The unit will be tested against a Hurricanes penalty kill that ranks second in the league at 85.0 percent and first since the beginning of December.

BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres face the Carolina Hurricanes in Eastern Conference play. Buffalo has gone 8-11-3 in home games and 16-22-5 overall. The Sabres are third in league play with 181 ...

They’re now 3-4-3 since the Christmas break, partially due to a major uptick in quality chances allowed at five-on-five; they were at 2.18 per 60 heading into the holiday, fourth-best in the NHL. In the 10 games since, though, they’re over 2.5.

The Rangers have now recorded a point in six consecutive games following a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Utah.

McLeod’s hat-trick goal with 24 seconds remaining put the finishing touches on a bend-but-don’t-break performance by the Sabres, who were coming off a loss to Seattle in their most recent game in which goals against compounded into a blown lead.

Ryan McLeod scored on the first shot of the game, again just before the second period horn, and was awarded an empty-net goal for his first career hat trick in the Sabres’ 4-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center.

Ryan McLeod registered a hat trick, one on the game's first shot, as the Buffalo Sabres held off the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2, Wednesday night in a nationally televised game in KeyBank Center.

The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET on TNT. Fans looking to watch this NHL game can do so for free by using DirecTV Stream, which offers a free trial or with SlingTV, which doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available. Max has plans starting at just $9.99/month and includes movies, original series and more.

Eric Robinson on the Gaudreau brothers: "There's hard days still. I'm just trying to honor them by doing things the right way, being grateful every day that this is my job. You want to carry on their legacy.