Postgame Report | Sabres move into playoff position after win in Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. - Craig Anderson stood at the podium inside the KeyBank Center media room last May and offered insight into what he believed the future had in store for the Sabres.
The Sabres had just stormed through March and April at a 102-point pace, offering a window into their potential. Anderson called it one of the most fun seasons of his career.
"We're satisfied with growing, but we're not satisfied with the end result," he said that day. "And the end result will eventually be being a playoff team."
The allure of being a part of that growth convinced Anderson to return for another season. And while the Sabres have not reached their playoff goal yet, their 41-year-old goaltender helped them take a significant step at FLA Live Arena on Friday.
Anderson made 49 saves to backstop the Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers, vaulting Buffalo into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with 25 games remaining.

It was a storybook night for Anderson, who spent three seasons with the Panthers early in his career and continues to make his offseason home in South Florida. His son turns 10 years old on Friday, so the family decided to hold his birthday party at the arena.

"Age is just a number," Anderson said. "Right now, it's just managing the rest and managing your time so that you can have the moments in a game like this and be able to give your team a chance."
The victory put Anderson's twofold role on full display. He was the trustworthy veteran in the crease and the calm leader between whistles for a young Sabres team that had already navigated an emotional week. The Sabres had lost at home to Toronto on Tuesday, then channeled their disappointment into a thrilling overtime victory in Tampa on Thursday.
Their next task was a Florida team that was 7-2-0 in its last nine home games. The Sabres jumped ahead 2-0 on second-period goals from Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner. When the Panthers made things interesting with a third-period goal from Carter Verhaeghe, it took less than three minutes for the Sabres to respond with Skinner's second goal of the game.
"I credit Andy, I credit all our more experienced players and older players for bringing that calm, especially coming into this trip," Sabres coach Don Granato said.
Anderson bought the Sabres time to build their lead with an 11-save first period, which included a point-blank stop on Eetu Luostarinen in the final seconds. He was an anchor on two successful penalty kills in the second. He stopped all but one of the 27 shots he faced in the third.
He turned back the clock for one save in the middle period, laying across the crease and stacking his pads to rob Ryan Lomberg on a breakaway. He said afterward that he blacked out in the moment, but then went on to explain how there was at least some method to his madness.
"You just throw something at them and try to surprise them," he said. "There's so much video nowadays, I'm sure the next team will pick it up and try to figure out how to beat it. But the whole thing is, if I don't know what I'm doing, how are they going to know?"

That save was the outlier. Most of the 53 were more similar to his breakaway stop on Matthew Tkachuk in the third period - square to the shooter, calm, as if it were easy.
"That's about as good of a game as I've played in a while and as good mentally as far as being sharp and being in the moment," Anderson said. "That's always tough to do, to stay in the moment. Tonight was one of those nights where I was able to do it."
It's the same advice he has for his young teammates after moving into playoff position.
"We've got to look forward to our next game only," he said. "We can't put the cart in front of the horse. It's going to take hard work and commitment from each and every one of us.
"I think we saw numerous blocked shots at the end, guys laying down the line and paying the price. That's going to be the difference maker going down the stretch. Are we able to do the little things that make a difference and add up over time?"

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How it happened

PERIOD 1
The tone for the period was set during the opening minute, when a loose puck glided across the Sabres' goal line with Panthers forward Nick Cousins in its vicinity. Cousins was unable to tap it across before Henri Jokiharju cleared it out of harm's way.
The close call was the first of many chances for both sides in the period. Tuch hit a post on the Sabres' first power play, then Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Tyson Jost on a breakaway. Anderson stopped the point-blank attempt from Luostarinen with 8.7 seconds remaining.
The Sabres finished the period with a 19-15 edge in shot attempts.
PERIOD 2
The Sabres pulled ahead 2-0 on goals from Skinner and Tuch while a third from Henri Jokiharju was taken off the board after an offside challenge.
Skinner put the Sabres on the board 3:51 into the period, the product of a give-and-go play between him and Tage Thompson. Skinner passed to Thompson, who dangled his way to the net before delivering the return feed to Skinner at the side of the net.

Shortly after Jokiharju's goal was overturned, Rasmus Dahlin was cross-checked into the Buffalo crossbar by Carter Verhaeghe to send the Sabres to the power play. Owen Power stepped in for Dahlin with the top unit and set up Tuch's goal from the slot at 8:44.

Anderson made 16 saves in the period, including the sprawling breakaway stop on Lomberg.

PERIOD 3
Verhaeghe buried a shot from the right circle to put the Panthers on the board with 11:36 remaining.
Skinner answered 2:12 later, carrying the puck behind the Florida net after an offensive-zone faceoff and roofing a shot from the left side.

What we learned

1. Here is the full Wild Card picture following Friday's games:
   | Team | GP | Points | Points % | RW | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - New York Islanders | 62 | 67 | .540 | 26 | 30 | | WC2 - Buffalo Sabres | 57 | 64 | .561 | 22 | 29 | | Detroit Red Wings | 57 | 64 | .561 | 22 | 26 | | Florida Panthers | 61 | 64 | .525 | 25 | 27 | | Pittsburgh Penguins | 57 | 63 | .553 | 22 | 26 | | Washington Capitals | 60 | 62 | .517 | 22 | 27 |
   The Islanders lost 3-2 to the Kings tonight.
   Tomorrow, the Capitals host the Rangers, the Penguins play the Blues on the road and Detroit is home against Tampa Bay.
   2. Thompson, Skinner, and Tuch each extended their point streaks to five games.

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 12:30 p.m. The puck drops at 1 on MSG and WGR 550. Tickets are on sale now.