Monty Night: Florida Panthers 3, Buffalo Sabres 2

SUNRISE — The Buffalo Sabres have to be sick of playing the Florida Panthers.

Not only do the Panthers have a bunch of their former players, but Florida continues to dominate the Sabres and once again has slowed down their drive to the playoffs.

Tuesday, it was Brandon Montour, Sam Bennett, and Matthew Tkachuk doing some damage after the Sabres took the initial lead, Florida ending up winning 3-2 for its ninth win in 10 games against Buffalo.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for the Panthers who extended their run of defensive excellence: Florida has not allowed more than two goals in any of its past 14 games. The Panthers are 12-2 in those games and are outscoring their opponents 51-22.

The Sabres struck first after getting shutout by Anthony Stolarz off 45 shots in Buffalo on Feb. 15.

Dylan Cozens made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 9:25 of the first.

Florida answered with goals from Bennett and Tkachuk.

The score stayed 2-1 despite Florida outshooting the Sabres 12-0 to open the second and 18-8 overall.

In the third, Zach Benson was called for tripping along the backwall — and Buffalo coach Don Granato did not like it and got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

With the 5-on-3, the Panthers made quick work of the Sabres with Montour — the former Buffalo d-man — picking up his third point of the night — this one off a one-timer from the top of the slot off a pass from Tkachuk.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Sabres 1, Panthers 0 (9:25, 1st PP): Dylan Cozens rifles one in from the top of the slot and Buffalo finally gets one against the Panthers.
• Panthers 1, Sabres 1 (12:54, 1st): Brandon Montour gets this train rolling with Nick Cousins finding Sam Bennett alone in the middle of the ice — and that was enough.
• Panthers 2, Sabres 1 (15:36, 1st): Matthew Tkachuk continues his power play assault, firing a shot from the far wall which clips defenseman Erik Johnson and past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
• Panthers 3, Sabres 1 (9:41, 3rd PP): With two Sabres in the box, Florida had a full 5-on-3 and did not let it go to waste with Montour one-timing a Tkachuk delivery from the high slot.
• Panthers 3, Sabres 2 (12:44, 3rd): Tage Thompson knocked a deflected puck past Sergei Bobrovsky to pull the Sabres back within a goal.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Brandon Montour, Florida

2. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida

3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

ON DECK

MONTREAL CANADIENS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise 
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5 FM-2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Last Season: Florida won 4-0
• This Season (Panthers Lead 2-0) — At Montreal: Panthers 5, Canadiens 1 (Nov. 30). At Florida: Panthers 4, Canadiens 1 (Dec. 30); Thursday
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 57-38-11, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Detroit, 3 p.m. (ABC)