Florida Panthers Claw Out Victory over Sabres in Aleksander Barkov’s Return

The Florida Panthers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 to earn their third-straight victory in captain Aleksander Barkov’s return.

The Florida Panthers continued to keep on rolling when captain Aleksander Barkov made his return to the lineup, defeating the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, on Monday night for their third consecutive victory.

Barkov scored a goal and an assist in his return while the Panthers got contributions from up and down the lineup, with goals coming from their three top forward lines and both power play units.

Florida is now 6-1-1 in its past seven games and retains its seat atop the Atlantic Division at 7-3-1 to start the season

The Panthers dominated the first period, tallying two goals, scoring one by the Panthers' first powerplay unit. Barkov picked up an assist in his first game back since his recent injury, that kept him out for eight games.

However, the Sabres flipped a switch and started buzzing midway through the second period, going on a scoring streak to tie the game at 2-2. Undeterred, the Panthers quickly scored a go-ahead goal, showcasing their unwavering resilience and determination, which made the score 3-2 going into the third period.

In a heated, high-tension third period with penalties galore, the Panthers held their heads high as Buffalo made cheap shot after cheap shot at the Panthers, ultimately resulting in Buffalo’s downfall at the hands of the Panthers. The Panthers' gritty 5-2 win against the Sabres marks the Cats' fifth straight away game victory.

At 11:01 in the first period, Jesper Boqvist found the back of the net against the Sabre’s starting goalie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, with a wrist shot assisted by Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. 

Less than a minute after the initial goal, the Panthers scored 2-0 with a power play goal at 11:56 with a beauty of a slapshot by Sam Reinhart and assisted by Alexander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe.

With less than a minute left in the first, Barkov was off balance and pushed into boards by Buffalo’s Owen Power, which raised some alarm considering this was his first game back. He went gingerly to the bench just before the final minute of the first, but at the start of the second, he was on the bench and appeared to be okay. 

The Sabres opened up scoring in the second period with a power-play goal by way of a puck that was batted out of the air and redirected toward the net, a swing, and a hit for Jason Zucker, with Tage Thompson, who has extended his point-per-game streak to seven straight games, and JJ Peterka, making the score 2-1 Panthers. 

Then, shortly after the Sabres's initial goal, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, assisted by Owen Power at 12:37, clawed back to tie the Panthers at 2-2.

Quickly, the Panthers found themselves up 3-2, thanks to a wicked wrist shot by Carter Verhaeghe, who extended his point streak to seven games at 16:44 and assists by Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, who also has a five-game point streak.

Sergei Bobrovsky made some stellar stops towards the end of the second period, as Buffalo came striding down the ice in a partial breakaway, but in typical Bobovsky fashion, robbed Buffalo of any chance to score late and keeping the Panther’s lead going into the third period.

Both teams added some heat in the third period. In the initial minutes, Sam Bennett earned himself a roughing penalty against Rasmus Dahlin for getting a bit scrappy and punching each other in the head.

Soon after, the Sabres' Peyton Krebs earns a slashing penalty against Aaron Ekblad, and the Panthers' A.J. Greer attempted to retaliate for the slashing but also earns himself a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

As the period continued, the penalties kept flowing for both teams. After reckless stick handling, Anton Lundell was the victim. Rasmus Dahlin earned himself two minor penalties, one for slashing and another for roughing, against Jesper Boqvist, who also earned himself a minor penalty for roughing. 

The result was a five-on-four power play for the Panthers, and Sam Bennett capitalized with a wrist shot at 14:35, putting the Panthers up 4-2 with the help of Nathan Schmidt. With this goal, Bennett now has a five-game goal streak. 

Less than a minute later, Alexander Barkov scored on a wrist shot assisted by Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling, making the game 5-2 as the third period closed out.