Visiting Sabres may be just the cure for struggling Flyers; Buffalo star Jack Eichel out of lineup

The Buffalo Sabres have the lowest point total in the 31-team NHL and have lost seven straight.

So how do the Flyers, who aren’t playing so great themselves, avoid looking past the Sabres and taking them too lightly?

“We’ve lost two in a row ourselves, and obviously we’re a little more worried about ourselves than who are next opponents is,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbhere said after Tuesday’s morning skate in Voorhees. “I think for us, if we go out and play our game, we’ll be fine. We can’t take any teams in this league lightly.”

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Buffalo will be without star center Jack Eichel, who is sidelined with an upper-body injury. He appeared to injure his neck in Sunday’s 5-2 loss the the Islanders, according to Sabres reporter Bill Hoppe.

Rookie Dylan Cozens, 20, will replace Eichel on the top line, centering Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart. Eichel has just two goals, but has 16 assists in 21 games. Cozens, selected seventh overall in the 2019 draft, has three goals and one assist in 18 games.

Eichel has 13 points in his last 11 games against the Flyers, including four multi-point efforts.

The Flyers dropped a 6-1 decision to Buffalo in the teams’ first meeting this season. Since then, they have blanked the Sabres three straight times — all by 3-0 scores.

Carter Hart, who made 28 saves while blanking Buffalo on Feb. 28, will get the start for the Flyers (12-7-3) and he will oppose Jonas Johansson. The Flyers have a shutout streak of 181:11 against the Sabres.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Johansson has an 0-3 record with a 3.93 GAA and .893 save percentage.

Hart is 6-5-3 with a 3.47 GAA and .893 save percentage.

All three Flyers’ defensive pairings will be changed from the last game, based on Tuesday’s morning skate: Ivan Provorov will be with Phil Myers, Travis Sanheim will be alongside Justin Braun, and Robert Hagg will be with Gostisbehere.

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Erik Gustafsson will come out of the lineup.

The bottom two lines will be altered slightly, based on the morning skate:

After Tuesday’s game, the Flyers will again host Washington on Thursday and Saturday. The homestand started with a 3-1 loss Sunday to the Caps at the Wells Fargo Center.

Farabee is tied for the NHL lead with 11 even-strength goals. Auston Matthews, Logan Couture and Tyler Toffoli also have 11.

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Of the 28 members of the 2018 draft class to appear in the league this year, Farabee leads the group in goals and is tied for second in overall points, two behind Quinn Hughes.

Farabee was selected in the first round, 14th overall, in that draft.

The Flyers have had 35 or more shots in six of their last seven games after not surpassing 31 shots in any of their first 15 contests.

After a Feb. 21 loss to Boston, the Flyers were averaging 23.3 shots per game, the fewest in the league by a three-shot margin, and were allowing the second-most in the league at 33.3 per game.

Heading into Monday, they were leading the league at 36 shots over their last seven games. During that span, they have allowed the fourth-fewest shots, at 26.9 per game.

They are 4-3 in those seven games.

The Sabres have killed off 13 consecutive penalties and have not surrendered a power-play goal in six straight games. If the team’s penalty kill remains perfect Tuesday, it will be the first time the Sabres have gone at least seven straight games without surrendering a power-play goal since 2012.

Against the Flyers, the Sabres have killed 12 consecutive penalties and have not allowed a power-play goal in five straight meetings.

Flyers winger Michael Raffl is still sidelined with an injured hand. No timetable has been set for his return. ... Flyer killer: Taylor Hall has 27 points, including 10 goals, in 24 career contests against the Flyers. ... The team that has scored first has won all four games between the Flyers and Sabres this season.