Postgame Report | Sabres unable to hold off Panthers in road loss

SUNRISE, Fla. - Don Granato reminded the Sabres to keep their sights forward after a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers inside FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.
"You've got to move right on," Granato said. "It was disappointing tonight, but I still fully believe we have a chance and I think our guys do (too). There's more meaningful games ahead starting Thursday so you move onto that quick but take some experience from this one, no question."

The Sabres and Panthers both entered Tuesday in pursuit of a playoff berth. The Panthers, with help from a 5-1 loss by the Penguins in New Jersey, moved into the top Wild Card spot with 87 points. They hold the tiebreaker over the Islanders, who also have 87 points and hold the second Wild Card spot.
The Sabres trail both teams by six points but have six games remaining. The Panthers, Islanders, and Penguins (who have 86 points) all have four games remaining.
Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said the stakes could be felt throughout the tightly contested game, which was tied 1-1 until Matthew Tkachuk scored on a deflection 59 seconds into the third period.
"You want to be playing in games like this," Okposo said. "You don't want the feeling after when you're on the losing end. We laid it out there and we were just a little tight, understandably.
"We just wanted to win the game. We knew how important it was. I thought we made some plays, we made some good pushes, we had some looks. We played a mature game, I really thought we did. We just came out on the wrong side."

The Sabres outshot the Panthers 18-8 in the third period. Panthers goaltender Alex Lyon finished the night with 39 saves.
Dylan Cozens scored the lone goal for Buffalo. Devon Levi made 34 saves in his first road start.
"It was a tight game and we had chances to convert all the way to the end, and it didn't happen," Granato said.

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How it happened

PERIOD 1
Alex Tuch appeared to open the scoring just 3:35 into the contest, but a successful offside challenge by the Panthers took the goal off the board. What followed was a penalty-laden period that ended with the two teams tied, 1-1.
Cozens opened the scoring for the Sabres on the first of their two power plays in the period. He caught a pass from Rasmus Dahlin high in the offensive zone and buried a shot from the top of the right circle for his 29th goal of the season.

The Sabres successfully killed their first two penalties of the night, thanks in part to a save from Levi on a Sam Reinhart one-timer from the top of the crease. Aaron Ekblad scored on a shot from above the left faceoff circle on the Panthers' third power play of the period.
PERIOD 2
Levi dashed post to post to rob Anthony Duclair on a 2-on-1 rush early, then calmy made a glove save against Duclair later in the same shift. He stopped a backhand attempt from Anton Lundell during the final minute to complete a 12-save period.

The Sabres had eight shots in the period, including a scramble in front that saw Lyon kick out his pad to rob Cozens on a put-back attempt.
PERIOD 3
Tkachuk deflected a shot from the point by Brandon Montour for the go-ahead goal 59 seconds into the period.
Levi stopped Tkachuk on a breakaway to keep the deficit at one with 5:36 remaining, but the Sabres were unable to push the tying goal past Lyon. They killed off a holding penalty against Mattias Samuelsson with 2:31 remaining and drew two penalties of their own during the final minute, setting up a 6-on-3 advantage with 12.2 seconds left to play. Dahlin was denied on a late attempt and the clock expired as the puck was cleared down the ice.

What we learned

1.Here's a look at the standings:
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - Florida Panthers | 78 | 87 | .558 | 34 | 38 | | WC2 - New York Islanders | 78 | 87 | .558 | 33 | 38 | | Pittsburgh Penguins | 78 | 86 | .551 | 29 | 37 | | Buffalo Sabres | 76 | 81 | .533 | 28 | 36 | | Ottawa Senators | 78 | 81 | .519 | 29 | 35 |
2. Tage Thompson returned from a three-game absence stemming from a lower-body injury and tallied his 90th point of the season with an assist on Cozens' goal in the first period.
Thompson is the 10th player in Sabres history to record 90 or more points in a single season and the first since Daniel Briere had 95 points in 2006-07.
3.Okposo had high praise for Levi, who was a seventh-round pick by the Panthers in 2020. He was acquired by the Sabres along with a first-round pick in exchange for Sam Reinhart the following summer.
"He's a competitor," Okposo said. "He's got a lot of confidence in himself. He's only going to get better. I thought his reads were outstanding. He's extremely quick in there. Yeah, I mean, we were extremely comfortable with him in net tonight and he played a heck of a game."
4.Dahlin extended his point streak to three games with his assist on Cozens' goal. His 68 points this season are tied with Jon Van Boxmeer for sixth-most by a Sabres defenseman in a single season.

Up next

The Sabres visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.