Sabres look forward following loss to Panthers

Don Granato perused the schedule Monday night and was pleased to see two more dates with the Florida Panthers coming up in April.
Those games will represent more chances for the Sabres to measure themselves against the NHL's highest-scoring offense after falling 6-1 to the Panthers inside KeyBank Center on Monday.
"I'll remind our guys of this game and it's a measuring stick for us," Granato said. "We absolutely have to be better than that and we're fortunate, in my mind, that we play them again coming up real soon."

The Panthers ran away with the contest during a four-goal second period in which they outshot the Sabres, 20-7.
Noel Acciari ignited the run 5:54 into the middle period, cutting in toward the net and sending a well-placed backhand shot in off the far-side post. Anthony Duclair buried a crossing feed from Aleksander Barkov on a power play less than two minutes later.
Florida's next two goals - a backdoor attempt from Carter Verhaeghe and a 3-on-1 score from Patric Hornqvist - came just 63 seconds apart. Buffalo trailed 5-0 entering the second intermission.
"We responded with hesitation," Granato said. "A little bit of fear maybe and that caused hesitation - the fear not to make a mistake. You give skill players and a team like that that little bit of extra, too much respect, they can make you look foolish at times. I felt that was a big part of it."

John Hayden scored Buffalo's lone goal with 6:18 remaining, after Barkov scored Florida's second power-play tally and sixth goal of the night.
The Sabres managed to dictate play during the first period. They outshot the Panthers 11-3 during the opening 20 minutes and earned a pair of power plays but trailed on a goal from Brandon Montour.
"I thought that they were a little sloppy in the first and a little bit, it seemed like, just a little slow," Kyle Okposo said. "And then they came out in the second and they just used their skill, to be honest with you, and they made some really nice plays, and we just couldn't stop the breakdowns from happening."

The Sabres have a scheduled day off Tuesday. They return to practice on Wednesday before meetings with two more talented offenses - at home against Vegas on Thursday and in Hamilton, Ontario for the Heritage Classic against Toronto on Sunday.
The balance in the meantime will be moving on while still learning from the negatives.
"We've talked a lot recently as a team about how we want to play and what we're trying to create here," Okposo said. "We've had a lot of meetings internally about that recently, and I felt like today was one where everyone needed to get away and have a day tomorrow to regroup and not turn the page.
"I think we got to learn from it and come out have a good day on Wednesday. Obviously, we have a big game on Thursday."

Up next

The homestand concludes Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Tickets are available here.
The game will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call on WGR 550.