5 TAKEAWAYS: Knight shines, Panthers score in dominant win at Buffalo

Spencer Knight got more goal support than he needed in his return to the NHL.
Called up from the AHL on Sunday, the 20-year-old rookie stood on his head while stopping 29 of 30 shots to help lift the Panthers to a 6-1 win over the Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.

"I liked everything," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of Knight's performance. "I thought he was quiet. I thought he was big and that his timing on everything was impeccable."
Gaining some confidence in the minors, Knight, who improved to 10-6-2 this season, put together a string of strong starts prior to his recall, including a 44-save shutout on March 2.
"I think it was really important that he got in game-like situations," Brunette said of Knight, who went 7-3-0 in the AHL. "It's good for a young player to kinda earn it a little bit and battle through. The American League isn't always fun, and he went into it with a great attitude. He had great help down there. We know how good he is. He's as good as a goalie as I've seen at that age."
Helping out their young netminder, the Panthers put up plenty of goals against the Sabres.
Back on the ice in Buffalo for the first time since being sent to South Florida at last year's trade deadline, Brandon Montour opened the scoring for the Panthers when he one-timed a backdoor pass from Aleksander Barkov into the back of the cage to make it 1-0 at 5:22 of the first period.
Picking the perfect time to net his first goal of the season, Noel Acciari doubled the lead for the Panthers in the second period when he cut to the net, skated right around Rasmus Dahlin and let loose a sharp-angle shot that pinged off the far post and into the net to make it 2-0 at 5:54.
Entering tonight's matchup with a pair of power play goals in each of their last three games, the Panthers continued to fan the flames of their man advantage when Anthony Duclair took a pass from Barkov and lifted in a shot from the slot to pad the lead for the Panthers up to 3-0 at 7:39.
Just four minutes later, the Panthers kept piling it on when Carter Verhaeghe re-directed a centering feed from Mason Marchment, who dished out three assists against the Sabres in just 13:16 of ice time, past Craig Anderson from right around the doorstep to make it 4-0 at 11:39.

Putting a bow on the four-goal period for the Panthers, Patric Hornqvist finished off a tic-tac-toe sequence with MacKenzie Weegar and Sam Bennett with a tap-in goal to make it 5-0 at 12:42.

Setting a franchise record by scoring at least two power play goals in four straight games, the Panthers added one more goal for good measure in the third period when Jonathan Huberdeau took a pass from Duclair before setting up Barkov for a power-play goal to make it 6-0 at 6:50.
In addition to going 2-for-3 on the man advantage, Florida also went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"Both were really good," Brunette said of the execution on special teams. "I thought our penalty killing was excellent, and a lot of credit to Knighter. Those are hard penalties to kill when you're up by a few goals. … The power play moved the puck well and scored some pretty goals."
With 6:18 remaining regulation, John Hayden spoiled Knight's shutout when a flukey shot managed to find its way into the top of the net to get the Sabres on the board and make it 6-1.
Once again clawing their way back into first place in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers now sit at 38-13-5 and will close out their back-to-back set with a big game at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Already the top home team in the NHL, Florida has gone 8-2-0 over its last 10 road games.
"We know our record at home, and we just want to take that on the road," Montour said.
Here are five takeaways from Monday's win in Buffalo…

1. MONTY'S BACK

You knew Montour was going to have a little extra jump tonight.
Playing his first game back in Buffalo, the smooth-skating defenseman broke the ice at KeyBank Center when he one-timed a backdoor pass from Barkov through a seam under Anderson's left arm and into the cage to make it a 1-0 game just over five minutes into the first period of action.

From 2018-2021, Montour played 112 games over parts of three seasons in Buffalo.
"It was nice," Montour said of his return. "Obviously it's good to see some old faces."
A consistent source of offense on Florida's third pairing, Montour has produced 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 55 games this season. A road warrior, five of those six goals have come in games played outside of Sunrise - tied for the fifth-most road goals among NHL defensemen.

2. SWEET COOKIE

It's no surprise that someone nicknamed "Cookie" would score a sweet goal like this.
Making one of the best young defensemen in the NHL look like a traffic cone, Acciari cut toward the net while using his free arm to fend off Dahlin -- the top player on Buffalo's blue line -- before pinging a shot off the far post and into the twine to make it a 2-0 game in the second period.

"It was a great feeling," Acciari said. "It's been a while since that's happened."
After missing the first half of the season with an upper-body injured suffered in the preseason, Acciari has now suited up in four games since being cleared to return. In those games, he's put up one goal, one assist, 12 hits and two blocked shots while averaging 12:56 of ice time per tilt.
"We're just kind of rolling here," Acciari said.

3. THE DUKE'S KINGDOM

Duclair has been flourishing on the top power play unit.
Making the most out of his promotion, he cashed in on a quick shot from the slot against the Sabres in the second period for his second goal on the man advantage in the last two games.

So what's been the key to the team's improvement with the extra attacker?
"Just communication," Duclair said. "We're building chemistry as a unit."
Third on the Panthers with 22 goals, Duclair has lit the lamp four times over his last 10 games.
Sitting at 22.4% on the season, Florida's power play has been operating at 28.9% since Jan. 1.
"When you've got so many high-skilled guys, it's easy to play with them," Duclair said.

4. COUNTING WITH THE CAPTAIN

It's getting hard to keep count of the captain's numbers.
Registering his 10th multi-point performance over his last 17 games, Barkov finished with three points against the Sabres, including scoring a power-play goal in the third period that came as a result of some eye-catching passing with Duclair and Huberdeau in a tight area around the net.

"It can't get any nicer than that," Barkov said of the puck movement in the above clip.
Producing at well over a point-per-game pace, Barkov has notched 55 points in just 43 games while scoring a team-leading 26 goals. Since Jan. 20, he ranks ninth in the NHL with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) during a 17-game stretch that includes four different three-point games.

5. KNIGHT TIME

Knight was on top of his game from the moment the puck dropped.
After stopping all 11 shots he faced in the first period to give the Panthers some time to find their footing, the former first-round pick went on to finish with 29 saves to pick up his 10th win.

Coming up big on the penalty kill, he stopped all nine of Buffalo's shots on the power play.
"He played unreal," Duclair said of Knight. "He made some really good saves. We're happy to see him back, for sure. He's a really skilled, talented goalie, and we're just lucky to have him."
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Knight went 4-for-5 on shots from high-danger areas.

BONUS: LUNDELL UPDATE

Anton Lundell is day to day after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period of tonight's tilt.
"I think it's not serious, but we'll see," Brunette said of the rookie.
In talks for the Calder Trophy, Lundell has tallied 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 52 games.