02/02/26 08:53:00
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02/02 20:51 CST Jason Zucker breaks 3rd-period tie in the Sabres' 5-3 win over
the Panthers
Jason Zucker breaks 3rd-period tie in the Sabres' 5-3 win over the Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) --- Jason Zucker broke a tie on a power play at 5:31 of the
third period and he Buffalo Sabres beat the two-time defending Stanley Cup
champion Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday night.
The Sabres have won six of seven and took over the first wild-card spot in the
Eastern Conference standings. They hold a 10-point lead over the Panthers.
Florida, which has lost four straight, trails Boston by nine for the final
playoff position with 27 games remaining.
Peyton Krebs had a goal and an two assists for the Sabres. Tage Thompson, Zach
Benson, and Josh Doan also scored for Buffalo, with Rasmus Dahlin had two
assists. Alex Lyon, who has won 11 of his past 12 starts, made 38 saves.
Sandis Vilmanis, Evan Rodrigues, and Uvis Balinskis scored for Florida. Sergei
Bobrovsky made 15 saves.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead early in the first period, but the Sabres scored
the next three.
Florida, already playing without a number of its top forwards including captain
Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, lost center Sam Bennett to an upper-body
injury.
Bennett left the game after the first and did not return.
The Panthers scored 37 seconds in on a goal from Vilmanis, with Rodrigues
making it 2-0 at 5:56 of the period.
Buffalo scored the next two to tie the score going into the second, first off a
long wrist shot from Thompson, then off a goal from Kreps in front off the rush.
The Sabres led 3-2 at 5:44 of the second when Bobrovsky came 15 feet out to
play the puck. Only Ryan McLeod beat the Florida goalie to it, and he found
Benson in the slot for the easy goal.
The Panthers tied it late in the second on a power-play goal from Balinskis,
but Buffalo took the lead back on a power-play of its own at 5:31 of the third
when Zucker scored off a blind feed from Doan. Doan ended the scoring with a
goal off a pass from Krebs with 2:1:9 remaining.
Up next
Sabres: At Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
Panthers: Host Boston on Wednesday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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