The Buffalo Sabres hosted the Florida Panthers for a 1 pm matinee game. The Sabres were looking to build on their win against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night, whereas the Panthers were seeking to get back on track after losing their previous three games.
Game Recap
First Period
The opening period started with Zach Benson taking a penalty nine seconds into it. The Panthers were able to exert some sustained pressure; however, the Sabres were able to get into some shooting lanes. Nevertheless, Carter Verhaeghe had a scoring chance from the left circle that Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon denied. Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram took an interference penalty two minutes after the first penalty expired, but the Panthers were not able to get set up at all on it.
Another two minutes passed after the Panthers’ second power play expired, and the Sabres ended up heading to the power play. It did not last long, as Josh Doan found the back of the net for his first goal as a Sabre on a shot from Tage Thompson that deflected off Doan and went in.
Jason Zucker ended up hitting the post twice, once from in the slot and again from below the right circle on a wide-open net as Sergei Bobrovsky was caught out of position.
The Sabres committed two more penalties before the period ended, one of which was a too-many-men penalty, which they successfully killed off, despite the Panthers sustaining more pressure in their zone. Then, with 14 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Peyton Krebs committed a tripping penalty in the Panthers’ zone. The Panthers did not score within the last 14 seconds of the period, so the Sabres took the 1-0 lead to the first intermission.
Second Period
Fifty-three seconds into the second period, Alex Tuch drew a hooking penalty on a hustle play on the penalty kill. Hence, the teams played four-on-four hockey for 53 seconds before the Sabres were given a power play. They did not capitalize on the shortened power play. There were a few more penalties called following the Sabres’ power play, as Niko Mikkola took a holding penalty, then 45 seconds after, Zucker took a hooking penalty. Neither team was able to capitalize on any of their power plays in the period up to this point.
Related: Zach Benson and Josh Doan Are Sparkplugs the Sabres Needed
Lyon had to be strong as the Panthers had back-to-back odd-man rushes that they could not get past him. With 9:20 remaining in the period, Brad Marchand took an interference call, and the Sabres took advantage of it as Doan scored his second power-play goal of the game.
With 5:40 remaining, Tuch found Owen Power back door to extend the Sabres’ lead to 3-0. With 30 seconds left, both teams exchanged back-to-back scoring chances, but both goaltenders held up big to keep the score at 3-0. With 11 seconds remaining, some scuffles eventually led to a Panthers power play that they took into the third period.
Third Period
A little over one minute into the third period, Sam Reinhart was denied a chance on the power play by Lyon, and yet another penalty was killed off by the Sabres. With 13 minutes remaining in the game, Thompson and Benson had back-to-back chances to extend the lead, including Benson’s attempted wrap-around, which just rolled across the goal line and went wide.
The Panthers ended up getting yet another power play. They sustained a lot of pressure and got some good opportunities, but were held scoreless on it.
The last 10 minutes of the game consisted of the Sabres putting pucks in deep and keeping the Panthers to the perimeter in their own zone, which ultimately led to helping Lyon record his first shutout as a Sabre.
The Sabres move to 2-3-0 on the season, and the Panthers lose their fourth straight game to fall to 3-4-0. The Sabres are back in action on Monday, Oct. 20. The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 21, when they take on the Boston Bruins.
