Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers in their 3-2 shootout win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Anton Lundell scored the lone goal in the shootout, and Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves for the Panthers (47-29-4, 98 points), who have won three in a row. Florida tied Tampa Bay in points for second place in the Atlantic Division, but the Lightning have played one fewer game.
Rasmus Dahlin and JJ Peterka scored for the Sabres (35-37-7, 77 points), who are 0-1-1 in their past two after a five-game winning streak. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves.
Dahlin gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead off the rush on the power play at 19:41 of the first period. Jason Zucker took a feed from Dahlin in the left circle that drew Vanecek over to Zucker, who then dished a cross-crease pass back to Dahlin driving to the net and easily potted it.
Verhaeghe tied it 1-1 at 5:00 of the second period. Seth Jones’ point shot missed wide and hit the end boards and bounced to the left side, where Verhaeghe collected it in the circle and cut to the front of the net before slipping a backhand past the outstretched glove of Luukkonen.
Jesse Puljujarvi put the Panthers in front 2-1 when he deflected Uvis Balinskis’ shot from the middle of the blue line over Luukkonen’s glove at 14:47.
The game took a feisty turn late in the period after Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich caught Buffalo center Jiri Kulich with a hit in the neutral zone, leading to an immediate response from the Sabres. Gadjovich was assessed a five-minute major, but the penalty was rescinded after officials reviewed the play.
The feistiness continued in the third period as a skirmish developed in the Sabres’ end midway through the frame. That resulted in a two-minute 5-on-3 advantage for the Buffalo and the tying goal.
With one second remaining on the power play, Peterka pulled the Sabres even at 12:18, one-timing a feed from Dahlin at the bottom of the right circle that beat Vanecek short side.
Buffalo defenseman Owen Power left the game late in the second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return.
–Field Level Media
