Noah Ostlund scored the tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday afternoon at KeyBank Center.
Josh Doan opened the scoring for Buffalo at 5:58 of the first period with his first goal of the season. Anton Lundell answered for Florida at 11:00 on a wrist shot, but Rasmus Dahlin restored the Sabres' lead late in the period with a power-play slap shot at 15:55.
Sam Reinhart tied the game at 2-2 on a power-play poke 6:26 into the second period. Buffalo pulled back ahead at 11:25 on Ryan McLeod's wrist shot, but Reinhart struck again on the man advantage at 13:41 to even the score at 3-3. Ostlund broke the deadlock at 7:15 of the third period with a power-play wrist shot, and Tage Thompson secured the win with an even-strength wrist shot at 13:20.
Both teams used two goaltenders during the contest. Jacob Markstrom started for Florida and made nine saves on 11 shots before Akira Schmid took over in relief, stopping 18 of 21 shots and taking the loss. Buffalo starter Colten Ellis stopped seven of nine shots, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earned the win by turning aside 13 of 14 shots after entering in the second period. Each team scored twice on the power play, with Florida going 2 for 4 and Buffalo converting 2 of 5 chances.
The victory lifted Buffalo to a 3-3-0 record on the season. Florida fell to 2-2-2 and extended its winless stretch to two consecutive games (0-2-0).
Both teams return to the ice on Wednesday, October 21. The Sabres will host the Philadelphia Flyers, while the Panthers travel to visit the Ottawa Senators.
