Panthers keep pace in Atlantic, top Sabres in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart scored with 1:02 remaining in overtime, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Reinhart scored his 55th of the season from the slot off a pass from Aleksander Barkov, who stole the puck from Dylan Cozens.

Florida remained one point behind the Boston Bruins for first in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 on Saturday.

With the win, Florida clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"There was a task ahead today and we got it done. And we're excited about the challenge ahead,'' said Reinhart, whose career-high in goals prior to the season was 33. "It starts for real pretty soon. You do what you can to get home-ice advantage and that's the beauty of the playoffs; it's a battle in Game 1. We're looking forward to it."

Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund scored for the Panthers (51-24-6), who have won three straight and are on a five-game point streak (4-0-1). Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in his 700th NHL game. 

"We played for the win, building for the playoffs, and it was a good win for us," Bobrovsky said. "We're not going to look ahead too much. We had a good game tonight, we get a good two points and we move on."

Tyson Jost and Jack Quinn scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves for the Sabres (38-37-6), who have lost three of four.

"It was a hotly-contested game,'' Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "We had some opportunities, even in overtime. … We were not as sharp, and the consequence was we weren't as sharp with the puck and had to defend more. But we defended well, and that was key.''

Jost gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 2:59 of the first period, deflecting Rasmus Dahlin's shot from the point.

Lundell tied it 1-1 at 5:02 with a backhand shot through traffic with his back toward the goal.

Stenlund gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 8:11 with a short-handed goal. He intercepted a pass and drove down the ice, beating Luukkonen with a backhand-to-forehand shot.

Quinn tied it 2-2 at 9:48 on the power play, scoring on a rebound of Bowen Byram's shot.

Alex Tuch took a high-sticking penalty at 19:25 of the third period, but the Panthers were unable to score on the power play, which included a 4-on-3 advantage for 1:25 of overtime.

Buffalo was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, which included a five-minute major penalty.

"Those were huge kills and it would have been nice to win after those,'' Sabres defenseman Owen Power said. "It is what it is. Obviously, we didn't come out with it.''

The Panthers have one more game remaining in the regular season, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

"If it makes more sense to rest (players), we'll do it ... If we get the chance to compete for something, we're going to compete for it,'' Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

NOTES: Reinhart's 55 goals are the third most in a single season in Panthers history. Pavel Bure scored 59 in 2000-01 and 58 in 1999-00. Reinhart's 10 game-winning goals are the second highest single-season total in team history behind Bure (14 in 1999-00). … Bobrovsky is 396-224-55 with the Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets.