Sabres fall short in physical road matchup with Panthers 

SUNRISE, Fla. – Don Granato expected the Florida Panthers to play an aggressive, assertive, and physical game as the Buffalo Sabres opened up a two-game road trip in Florida on Tuesday.

His team had been shutout by the Panthers less than two weeks prior, when Buffalo put together a 45-shot performance at KeyBank Center but was unable to find the back of the net in a 4-0 loss.

The Sabres scored twice on Tuesday night, including the game’s first goal, but fell short in a 3-2 loss inside Amerant Bank Arena, snapping their three-game winning streak and five-game road winning streak.

“The game could have went the other way,” Granato said. “They all competed and competed to win.”

Dylan Cozens opened the scoring midway through the first period following a series of penalties that would set the tone for the rest of the game.

Zach Benson went to the penalty box first for holding Dmitry Kulikov, while Kulikov was simultaneously given an interference penalty as both players battled for a puck in the Florida zone. Brandon Montour was assessed a hooking penalty just 56 seconds later after Tage Thompson drew the hook on a wrap-around attempt, setting the Sabres up for 1:04 of 4-on-3 hockey.

The Sabres couldn’t find a way to capitalize on the 4-on-3 before Benson and Kulikov exited the box but did take advantage of their 5-on-4 opportunity. Jordan Greenway called for the puck in the right circle and fed it right back to Cozens, who was at the point for a one-timer into the top right corner of the net.

Florida answered back a few minutes later when Montour led the rush into the Sabres’ zone. He passed to Nick Cousins before driving into the slot and drawing the Buffalo defense on him to allow Cousins to find Sam Bennett with a wide-open lane to the net. Bennett placed a shot to the far side of the goal to tie the score at 1-1 with 7:06 remaining in the first.

The Panthers tacked on a power-play goal with 4:24 to go after Jacob Bryson was called for high-sticking. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made the initial save on Montour’s shot from the point, but the rebound bounced within reach of Carter Verhaeghe, who sent a cross-ice pass to Matthew Tkachuk in the right circle. Tkachuk fired a shot that deflected off Erik Johnson’s stick and into the net to send the Sabres into the locker room down 2-1 at the first intermission.

Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said the team was prepared for the Panthers to make a push and remained composed while leaning on Luukkonen to come up big when he had to.

“You’re going to get outplayed by good teams at points,” he said. “They’re a really good hockey team and they push – and that’s OK. We got out of it. Our goalie played extremely well to keep us in the hockey game.”

Luukkonen kept his team in it in the second, stopping 18 of 18 shots as the Panthers held an 18-8 edge in shots in the second period, which featured power plays for each team as the penalties and physicality continued.

“That’s kind of my job to try to keep the game close when we’re not playing maybe as well as we want to,” Luukkonen said. “In the end, as I said, it doesn’t matter really how we got there but it was a one-goal game going into the third.”

The Panthers scored again in the third after the Sabres were given concurrent minor penalties with a tripping minor against Benson and a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving Florida a 5-on-3. Montour scored on the man advantage, firing a one-timer from the point to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead 9:41 into the final period.

Buffalo outshot Florida 13-8 in the third and capitalized on a shot from Thompson to bring the Sabres within one with 7:16 remaining. Tuch collected a loose puck following an offensive zone faceoff and fed Dahlin to rip a shot from the point. Thompson picked up the rebound and scored to mount a comeback, but the Sabres were unable to complete it.

The Sabres took a total of seven penalties in the game, including a double-minor for roughing on Greenway and the concurrent penalties in the third that led to Florida’s game-winning goal.

“You lose and you lose the way it happened is extremely aggravating and extremely disappointing,” Granato said. “And I’m not talking about our players. What transpired there is disappointing.”

The Panthers improved to 21-4-2 since Dec. 23 with their win, picking up their fifth straight home victory.

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Jeff Skinner, who exited Monday’s practice at LECOM Harborcenter early due to a potential injury, was in the lineup after undergoing imaging that Granato said came back “very good.”

Skinner skated 19:54 in the loss, recording one shot, one hit, and a plus-1 rating.

2. Dahlin’s assist on Thompson’s goal moved him into sole possession of fifth all-time in assists among Sabres defensemen, with a total of 217. He now trails only Doug Bodger (233), Alexei Zhitnik (244), Mike Ramsey (256), and Phil Housley (380).

Dahlin registered 30:49 of ice time and two shots in addition to his assist. He has now skated 29 or more minutes in each of Buffalo’s last seven games and is the only Sabres skater to do so since the league began tracking time on ice in 1997-98. Dahlin also became just the seventh NHL player, and first since Erik Karlsson in the 2015-16 season, to record over 29 minutes of ice time in seven consecutive games.

3. Luukkonen made his 32nd start of the season, matching a career-high he set during the 2022-23 season. The goaltender made his 15th start in Buffalo’s last 17 games and recorded 34 saves for a .919 save percentage.

Thompson felt Luukkonen did all he could throughout the game to give his team a chance to come back.

“Upie’s been playing great,” Thompson said. “He gives us a chance to keep the game close and find our way back into it. And obviously, Upie kept us in there and gave us a chance to claw back.”

Up next

The Sabres close out their road trip with a visit to Tampa on Thursday. 

Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+  begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7. Radio coverage can be found on WGR 550.