The Buffalo Sabres answered two disappointing performances with a spirited 5–3 win over the Florida Panthers on Monday afternoon at KeyBank Center.
Josh Doan opened the scoring at 5:58 of the first period with his first goal of the season. After a defensive play in his own zone, Doan took a pass from Peyton Krebs and beat Florida goaltender Jacob Markström with a shot to make it 1–0.
The Panthers tied the game when Sabres goaltender Colten Ellis couldn’t control a rebound. The loose puck went to Anton Lundell, who shot it through Ellis’s pads to even the score at 1–1, 11 minutes into the period.
Buffalo reclaimed the lead at 15:55 when Rasmus Dahlin fired a shot past Markström from just beyond the circle.
Markström did not return for the second period, with Akira Schmid taking over in goal for Florida.
The Panthers tied the game again at 6:26 on the power play. Seth Jones’s shot trickled behind Ellis, and Sam Reinhart put the rebound across the line.
Ellis got the hook after the goal. Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen replaced him in net for Buffalo.
Ryan McLeod restored Buffalo’s lead at 11:25, breaking behind the Panthers’ defence and slipping the puck past Schmid to make it 3–2.
Reinhart answered again for the Panthers with his second power-play goal, beating Luukkonen through a scramble at 13:41.
The Sabres took the lead for good with a power-play goal of their own. Noah Östlund set up in front of Schmid, then jammed Zach Benson’s pass into the net at 7:15 of the third period.
Tage Thompson added insurance for the Sabres, burying a wrist shot past Schmid at 13:53. Thompson’s fourth of the season stretched the lead to 5–3, the eventual final score.
Next up, the Sabres head to Montreal to take on the Canadiens tomorrow night at the Bell Centre.
