Stolarz makes 45 saves, Panthers shut out Sabres

BUFFALO -- Anthony Stolarz made 45 saves to help the Florida Panthers win their 10th straight road game, 4-0 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

“You want to go out there and you want to put on a strong performance,” Stolarz said after his first shutout of the season and seventh of his NHL career. “I take a lot of pride in that. Obviously I know my role on the team. Anytime you can go out there and put up a pretty good performance like that, it’s good. The guys were working hard for me and I try to do that in return for them.”

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice, Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov each had two assists for the Panthers (35-15-4), who have won four in a row and eight of their past nine. They were coming off a 5-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and are 4-0-1 in the second half of back-to-backs.

“I think in our other back-to-backs we've been pretty strong,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I think everybody's also still in some ways reconditioning themselves off the All-Star break. … But we didn't look anywhere near what we normally look like tonight. And I'm not complaining about the effort level. That's what they had to give. These guys give what they have to give us. We just weren't sharp or fast. But our goalie was good. And a lot of nights, that's all that matters.”

Eric Comrie, playing his first NHL game since Dec. 5, made 27 saves for the Sabres (23-26-4), who have lost three of four. He started in place of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury and is day to day.

“I felt pretty good,” said Comrie, who was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Jan. 27. “I felt OK for the most part. I thought the team played really good in front of me. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win.”

Verhaeghe gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 9:26 of the first period. Barkov pressured Buffalo defenseman Ryan Johnson into a turnover in the corner and sent a centering pass to Verhaeghe in front, where he lifted the puck over Comrie.

“‘Barky’ is so good at that,” Verhaeghe said. “He's one of the best defensive players in the League, and he's so good with the stick. He gets us pucks all the time. I'm aware, but obviously when he's in a 1-on-1 battle I try and get open because most of the time he's going to win it.”

Lundell made it 2-0 at 17:16 of the second period when he deflected Matthew Tkachuk’s point shot during a delayed penalty.

Verhaeghe scored an empty-net goal at 18:27 of the third period to extend the lead to 3-0, and Ryan Lomberg scored on the power play at 19:48, converting a rebound at the edge of the crease for the 4-0 final.

“I thought we ended up having to chase the game a little bit,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “I think we tried to make it a point to try to get the first one, but obviously they were able to capitalize on a point-blank opportunity. And then from there, our power play is still struggling. We just weren’t able to capitalize on some opportunities and obviously Stolarz played really well over there. He made some really big stops for them. Obviously, well-deserved shutout, [45] saves.

“Just wasn’t good enough from us. Wasn’t good enough in those dirty areas, bearing down, and I think a little too many shots from the outside with no traffic made it a little easier on them.”

NOTES: The Panthers are the 11th team in NHL history to win 10 straight on the road, and the second this season (Los Angeles Kings, 11) . … Stolarz’s 45 saves are the third-most in a shutout in Florida history, behind Craig Anderson (53 against the New York Islanders on March 2, 2008) and James Reimer (46 against the Boston Bruins on March 15, 2018). … Barkov reached 40 assists in a season for the sixth time in his NHL career, moving him past Jonathan Huberdeau for first in Panthers history. … Buffalo coach Don Granato said there’s a “good chance” Luukkonen will be ready to play Saturday when the Sabres visit the Minnesota Wild. … The Sabres recalled Dustin Tokarski from Rochester to back up Comrie.