Spencer Knight Says Florida Panthers Loss in Buffalo ‘Is On Me’

Florida Panthers goalie Spencer Knight played in his first NHL game in 20 months on Saturday night in Buffalo.

He was not real happy with how it went.

Knight, who spent all of last season in the American Hockey League, allowed four goals on 26 shots in a 5-2 loss to the host Buffalo Sabres.

Although all four of those goals were not on Knight with the shorthanded Panthers not as strong defensively as usual, there are a couple he certainly would like back.

“Obviously, that’s not the way you want the game to go,’’ said Knight, making his first start for the Panthers since Feb. 18, 2023.

“That loss starts with me, and ends with me. I think, really, the whole thing is on me. I can’t be making plays like that. There were some good things done, but you have to take ownership of the good things and the bad. The loss starts with me.’’

Knight said last week that he knows not every game is going to be a masterpiece for him, and dealing with the tough losses is going to define him more than the good ones.

After giving up six goals in a preseason loss to Carolina in which Florida was icing a minor-league lineup against the Hurricanes’ NHL squad, Knight came back in the next day and got to work.

He basically said he planned on doing the same come Sunday.

“Games like that happen during the season, and you have to learn how to turn things around, and come right back,’’ Knight told FHN before the season started.

“Sometimes, feeling bad about a game is better than feeling too good about one. You want the challenge to come back. It was easy to say ‘oh, it’s just the preseason.’ But when you get scored on six times whether it’s a game or a scrimmage, you don’t feel good, right? I think that was good for me. I came in the next day for practice ready to go. We laughed, had a good day. That was good.’’

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The Panthers, regardless of who was in net Saturday, were facing an uphill battle.

Not only was captain Sasha Barkov out with a suspected ankle injury which should keep him out of the lineup for the next couple of weeks, but Matthew Tkachuk could not play because of illness.

That left the Panthers will just 11 forwards — one of which being rookie Patrick Giles, who was making his NHL debut.

“We have won a lot of hockey games in the past without them in our lineup,’’ coach Paul Maurice said, “and we need to play a style of game which will allow that to happen. We didn’t play a game you can survive with some guys out of your lineup. I think we can get better at it.’’

Florida took a 1-0 lead on defenseman Nate Schmidt’s first goal with the Panthers midway through the first, but Buffalo scored twice in rapid fashion — one in a scramble around the net, the other on a breakaway — for a 2-1 lead going into the break.

Buffalo got its third goal on a nice shot from the right circle with the fourth off another scramble around the net.

Florida failed multiple times to clear the puck out of the zone, Knight scrambled to make a save out of the net and could not get back on his feet by the time Mattias Samuelson flew one in from 20 feet out.

Knight, at times, certainly looked flustered.

And, although he may not have helped the Panthers to a win, there were a lot of things going on in this game.

Knight can blame himself all he wants, but he was not alone in Florida losing this one.

Maurice even pointed out that of the seven defensemen the Panthers played on Saturday, only two (Aaron Ekblad and Gus Forsling) have ever played in a real NHL game with Knight.

“We asked him to make a lot of saves, especially in the back half of the game,” Maurice said.

“A lot of it, he looked solid in. There (was) some communication things with his defense, he hasn’t played with a lot of those guys back there because a bunch of them were new. It was fine. He made some good ones, probably wants a couple of them back. It’s been a while since he has been in an NHL net. We’ll build from there.”

Florida will continue to be without Barkov for a bit, but Tkachuk should be back for Monday’s matinee rematch with the Bruins.

The Panthers have lost the first two games on this four-game roadtrip, and things don’t get any easier Monday against Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins.

“We just got caught in a bit of transition and that wouldn’t be the game we like to play,’’ Maurice said. “We misplayed a lot of pucks tonight. It has been back-to-back games where we iced the puck and it indirectly went into the back of our net.

“The hands part has not been there for the past two games. I liked our last game in terms of effort; this one, I think, we didn’t have as much pushback when we needed it.’’

ON DECK: GAME NO. 4

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT BOSTON BRUINS

• When: Monday, 1 p.m.
• Where: Boston Garden
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WPTV 5/WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 6, Bruins 4 (Oct. 8); Jan. 11. At Boston: Monday; March 11.
• Last Regular Season (Bruins Won 4-0) — At Boston: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Oct.30); Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Ap. 6). At Florida: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 22); Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (March 26).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-38-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 3-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st, 2024 2nd)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m. (Local TV)