5 TAKEAWAYS: Sabres 3, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers missed out an opportunity to tighten their grip on a playoff spot with a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at FLA Live Arena on Friday.
At 29-26-6, Florida is now tied with the Sabres for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but has also played four more games than Buffalo up until this point.
"It's a huge game at home and it's really disappointing coming in with two first periods like that," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. "It stinks]. We're in a payoff plush. There's nothing we can do now, but we've got to be ready going forward here."
For a quick recap of the game, click
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To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. TURNING BACK THE CLOCK

Craig Anderson turned back the clock for the Sabres.
Fifteen years after setting a career-high mark with 53 saves all the way back on March 2, 2008, the 41-year-old goaltender matched that lofty total by stopping 53 of 54 shots against the Panthers.
The most saves ever by a Sabres goaltender in a win, Anderson also became the oldest goaltender in NHL history to make 50-plus saves in a regular season game, per Sportsnet.
Of his 53 saves against Florida, 15 were considered high-danger.
"I think we were making it a little easy on him," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. "We were shooting pucks with no screens, nobody in front of the net, and a lot of outside shots."

2. ON THE BOARD

On a night when goals were hard to come by, Verhaeghe still couldn't be stopped.
Padding his career-high total, the 27-year-old sniper netted his 31st goal of the season when he beat Anderson from the right circle to cut Florida's deficit down to 2-1 at 8:24 of the third period.

"Our first two periods weren't that great," Verhaeghe said. "You give a team like that a 2-0 lead, it's tough to come back in this league. … We've got to come out ready next game."
Lighting the lamp 12 times in his last 17 games, Verhaeghe is tied for 14th in the NHL in goals (31) and sixth in even-strength goals (25). As it stands now, those 25 even-strength goals are already the fourth-most in franchise history and one more than he scored all of last season.
Two of those three best seasons ahead of him were achieved by Pavel Bure.

3. THE DUKE RETURNS

Welcome back, Anthony Duclair!
Making his season debut after working his way back from offseason surgery to repair an Achilles injury, the 27-year-old forward got caught back up to speed quickly in his return. Skating on the top line, Duclair registered four shots on goal, five hits and one takeaway over 17:26 of ice time, which was the fifth-most ice time among Panthers forwards in the game.
"A little jittery in the first [period] there just trying to find my legs," Duclair said. "Then in the second I started feeling better, and then in the third more comfortable. It's just a question of timing and finding chemistry with the guys. All in all, after seven months [of rehab], coming back I think I should be proud of myself."
Cracking the scoresheet, Duclair recorded the primary assist on Verhaeghe's goal.
"Hags has been a shooter all year, so whenever he's open you've got to give it to him," said Duclair, who set career-highs in goals (31), assists (27) and points (58) in 2021-22. "It was a nice shot by him and nice to get the first point out of the way."
Overall, a great starting point for a player the Panthers will need down the home stretch.
"He's just going to keep on getting better," Verhaeghe said of Duclair. "We know what kind of player he is. It's a lot of fun playing with him. He's a great player."

4. THIRD-PERIOD PUSH

The Panthers did everything they could in the third period.
Over the final 20 minutes, they led 45-20 in shot attempts, 27-12 in shots on goal and 24-7 in scoring chances. But the number that really sticks out is their 16 high-dangers shot attempts. Unfortunately, even with that relentless attack, they could only muster one goal in the period.
"Even with the amount of pucks we put to the net, we wasted a bunch of opportunities to get more pucks to the net," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "It was there for us. We tried to make plays we didn't need to make."
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida had 2.84 expected goals in the third period.
"At that point, you're at the mercy of a guy that if he makes those saves you're going to lose the game," Maurice said when asked about having to claw back from a deficit.

5. KEY PLAYERS MISSING

The Panthers were missing their top-two centers against the Sabres.
Held out due to lingering injuries, Sam Bennett missed his fourth straight game, while captain Aleksander Barkov missed his first game with an issue that had caused him to previously miss one game earlier this month.
This season, those two players have combined for 85 points (30 goals, 55 assists).
"Barkov and Bennett didn't improve over the last few days, so I'll list them as day-to-day, possibly [back for] Tampa," said Maurice, who also added that Givani Smith had been placed on LTIR. "Fortunaetely we've got some days off here and can expect some healing."
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for updates on both players in the coming days.