At the Horn | Sabres 5 - Panthers 2

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Florida Panthers 5-2 to secure their first win of the season on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.

Jordan Greenway, Tage Thompson, Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch all scored goals in the win. Devon Levi made his second start of the season, and made 23 saves on 25 shots.

Nate Schmidt and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, while Spencer Knight finished the night with 22 saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Levi stopped seven shots during the first nine minutes of the contest, but Schmidt scored from the high slot on the rush to put Florida on the board first at the 10:59 mark.

The Sabres answered with a pair of late goals to carry a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Greenway scored first, holding onto the puck as he cut through the crease and lifting a backhand shot into the net with 3:14 remaining in the period.

Less than a minute later, Alex Tuch delivered a pass from the neutral zone to send Tage Thompson over the blue line. Thompson buried a hard wrist shot from the right faceoff dot to put the Sabres in front.

Second Period

The Sabres continued their offensive explosion with 22 shot attempts and two goals during the second period - the first of which came from Jokiharju just 1:34 in on a one-timer from the point that beat Knight beneath the blocker.

Samuelsson joined the offensive fun at the 3:38 mark. After a scramble in front of his net, Jason Zucker passed the puck to Samuelsson in the left circle. Samuelsson waited a beat before lofting a wrist shot past Knight, who had fallen to his bottom in a desperate attempt to cover the net.

Florida cut into the deficit with 1:18 remaining when Bennett deflected a pass from Sam Reinhart on the power play.

Third Period

Buffalo finished the game strong in the third period, shutting down the Florida offense, only allowing four shots in the final 20 minutes.

Tuch put the finishing touches on the game, scoring an empty netter, sealing the Sabres win over the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

VICTORY SPEECH

POSTGAME COMMENTS

GAME PHOTOS

UP NEXT

The Sabres will practice at home on Monday before embarking on a three game road trip next week. The trip kicks off against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on TNT, truTV and MAX. WGR550 will have the radio call.