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Florida Panthers Struggle in Rare Loss to Buffalo Sabres

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Saturday night started off pretty nicely for a shorthanded Panthers team in Buffalo, but it was one which belonged to the Sabres.



Nate Schmidt opened the scoring for Florida, but the Sabres scored the next four goals and won their first game of the season, 5-2, over the Panthers.

The Sabres (1-3-0) had lost their previous five games against the Panthers at KeyBank Center.

Florida was playing without two of its top forwards in Sasha Barkov (ankle) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness) and played with seven defensemen.

Spencer Knight made his first NHL start since Feb. 18, 2023, and just was not good enough to steal one for a Florida team which looked discombobulated at times and did not have enough to solve Buffalo goalie — and former Panthers prospect — Devon Levi. 

Knight ended with 22 saves; Levi 23.

The highlights of the night for the Panthers (1-2-0) were few:

  • Patrick Giles made his NHL debut but only played 7:34.
  • Florida’s power play got its first goal of the season when Sam Bennett scored from down low on a point shot from former Sabre Sam Reinhart.
  • Schmidt got his first goal with the Panthers to make it 1-0 midway through the first.

The Panthers have lost two straight games after beating the Bruins, whom they play in Boston on Monday afternoon, in their season-opener.

For those ready to write this season off already, relax.

Wondering when the last time Florida lost its first two road games to start a season?

Do not look too far back in the record book: It was last year.

Yes, the eventual Stanley Cup champions lost their first two road games to kick off the 2023-24 season — and were not missing Barkov and Tkachuk, either.

Things seemed to work out in the end.

GOALS OF THE GAME
  • Panthers 1, Sabres 0 (9:01, 1st): The Panthers get rolling with a 4-on-2 advantage with A.J. Greer finding a streaking Nate Schmidt in the slot and the Panthers have their first lead since Tuesday’s opener.
  • Sabres 1, Panthers 1 (16:46, 2nd): Jordan Greenway cuts in front of the net and shovels in a shot with Spencer Knight on the ice.
  • Sabres 2, Panthers 1 (17:27, 1st): Tage Thompson drives in off the rush and scores off a sharp wrist shot.
  • Sabres 3, Panthers 1 (1:34, 2nd): Henri Jokiharju rifles off a shot from the left circle.
  • Sabres 4, Panthers 1 (16:22, 2nd): Florida fails to clear the puck time and again, with Buffalo scoring on a Mattias Samuelson shot as Knight struggles to get off the ice and back into position.
  • Sabres 4, Panthers 2 (18:42, 2nd PP): The Panthers get their first power-play goal of the season with Sam Bennett scoring off a point shot from Sam Reinhart.
  • Sabres 5, Panthers 2 (18:48, 3rd EN): Alex Tuch picks off an errant pass from Adam Boqvist and that was that.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE NIGHT
  • 1. Devon Levi, Buffalo
  • 2. Tage Thompson, Buffalo
  • 3. Mattias Samuelson, Buffalo

ON DECK: GAME 4
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT BOSTON BRUINS

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