Wing Night: Florida Panthers Get Nice Win over Buffalo Sabres

Hard to believe, but the Florida Panthers were underdogs against the host Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Yeah, the Panthers are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions — but the Sabres had won three straight and a franchise record 13 of 14.

The Sabres also held a playoff spot after missing the postseason for an NHL record 14 seasons.

Guess that’s why they play the games, eh?

The Panthers never trailed Monday night, getting the go-ahead goal from Anton Lundell midway through the third in a 4-3 win over the Sabres at KeyBank Center.

Florida, which started this road trip 0-2, has now won two straight after winning in Ottawa and Buffalo.

The Panthers planned to fly home following the game and will practice at home at least on Wednesday before playing a back-to-back against the Hurricanes and Capitals to conclude the road trip.

A.J. Greer scored twice, and Carter Verhaeghe had three assists in the win.

Sam Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Sergei Bobrovsky has started all four games on the trip thus far and got his second straight win with 20 saves.

NOTES: PANTHERS AT SABRES

• Lindy Ruff became the third head coach in NHL history with 1,900 regular-season games — and faced one of the coaches on that list Monday. Paul Maurice got No. 1,900 on Jan. 29 and is now at 1,975. Ruff and Maurice trail only Scotty Bowman, who ended with 2,141.
• The Panthers officially changed the starting time of next Monday’s game against the San Jose Sharks to allow fans to watch the Miami-Indiana national championship game. At least on TV. Can’t go to both.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Sabres 0 (2:55 1st PP): Uvis Balinskis sends a shot from the point that Sam Reinhart deflects down low.
• Sabres 1, Panthers 0 (10:19 1st): Jacob Bryson’s point shot through traffic beats Sergei Bobrovsky.
• Panthers 2, Sabres 1 (15:11 1st): Sam Bennett gets A.J. Greer the puck in space and he rifles one in from the right circle.
• Sabres 2, Panthers 2 (17:57 2nd): Zach Benson gets to a puck on the doorstep and ties it up.
• Panthers 3, Sabres 2 (11:07 3rd): Anton Lundell finds a loose puck at the net and sweeps it home.
• Panthers 4, Sabres 2 (18:46 3rd EN): Greer all but ices it. All but.
• Panthers 4, Sabres 3 (19:46 3rd): Alex Tuch brings the Sabres back into it.

FHN’S 3 STARS

• 1. A.J. Greer, Panthers
• 2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers
• 3. Carter Verhaeghe, Panthers

ON DECK: GAME No. 46

FLORIDA PANTHERS at CAROLINA HURRICANES

• When: Friday, 7 p.m. 
• Where: Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule (Florida Leads 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 4, Hurricanes 3 SO (Dec.19). At Carolina: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 2 (Dec. 23); Thursday 
• Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 2-1
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Carolina/Hartford leads 74-50-10, 11 ties
• Postseason History: Florida 2-0 (d. Carolina in 2023 ECF in 4; 2025 ECF in 5)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Washington Capitals, 7