Buffalo fell behind 2-0 before they were able to get on the board when Sam Reinhart deflected in a point shot from Rasmus Ristolainen on the power play with 4:15 remaining in the second period. Then 1:10 later, the Panthers' lead was erased when Evander Kane knocked home a loose puck to make it 2-2.
The Sabres took the lead with 7:41 remaining in the third period when Ristolainen scored his third of the season. However, with 3:51 left in regulation, the Panthers struck again when Nick Bjugstad put home a shot to tie it up.
"I look at it as we gave away a point because it's our own fault," goaltender Robin Lehner said. "We're down 2-0 there. They came out really hard, we couldn't really match it and then we battled back. It got us back to a point where we should have been and we get to 3-2. It's small details in this league and that's what happened."
Both Vincent Trocheck and Aleksander Barkov (who ended his night with a goal and two assists) scored in the shootout. Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo, Buffalo's shooters, couldn't covert. Lehner is now 0-3 in the shootout this season while Roberto Luongo tied Terry Sawchuk for fifth all-time with his 447th career win.
"I need to keep working on them," Lehner said of the shootouts. "The first one there, it caught me a little off-guard. And Barkov's a good shooter. What can I say?"
The Sabres are now 1-5 in shootouts this year.
"Keep trying and keep working at 'em," Bylsma said of how they can try to improve Lehner's performances in the shootout. "We keep practicing them a different way, focus a different way, mindset a different way and it's what we've got to keep doing."
The Sabres now have 32 points on the season through 31 games, but they've now lost back-to-back games in the shootout against teams in the chase as well. The dropped a 2-1 decision in Carolina on Saturday.
"We need every point we can possibly get in this battle," Bylsma said. "We gave up one tonight and we gave up one to a team we're below in the standings. But at the same time, we've got to keep fighting and clawing and scratching to add points to our column."