Reinhart, Panthers rally with six straight goals, defeat Sabres

Sam Reinhart had a goal and three assists for the Florida Panthers, who rallied with four straight goals in a 7-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla., on Thursday.

It was Reinhart's first game against the Sabres since the forward was traded to the Panthers on July 24. He scored 295 points (134 goals, 161 assists) in 454 games with Buffalo.
"I thought he was great," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "I think when Sammy moves his feet and works and gets on pucks, uses his body, I think the rest of his skill level … his IQ is off the charts, and it enables him to make those plays. It was really fun watching that line play. They were a joy to watch tonight."
Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and four assists, and Aaron Ekblad scored twice and had an assist for the Panthers (16-4-3), who have won 13 of 14 at home. Spencer Knight made 19 saves in relief after Sergei Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 12 shots.
"Just try to change it up, try to change momentum a little bit there," Brunette said. "It wasn't anything with 'Bob.' Our breakdowns were horrific in the first period, and we didn't give him any help there."
Vinnie Hinostroza scored twice for the Sabres (8-12-3), who are 1-5-1 in their past seven games. Aaron Dell made 38 saves.
"They're a good team," Buffalo center Casey Mittelstadt said. "That's how they want to play, that's what they want to do to you. They've been doing it to a lot of teams this year.
"But yeah, I just think at some point when they're coming after us, we've got to fight back, and I think that's about it. Stop the bleeding. It's been kind of a sour spot for a lot of years, so that's on us as players. We've got to go out and win the next shift and, yeah, we just let the momentum get too far in their favor."

Reinhart cut it to 4-2 at 12:32 of the second period when he redirected a shot by Lucas Carlsson. Ekblad made it 4-3 off a cross-crease pass from Huberdeau at 15:40.
The Panthers outshot the Sabres 21-6 in the second period, and Ekblad tied it 4-4 on the power play at 1:07 of the third.
"The challenge of that second period, when that accumulates in the second period, the guys can't get off the ice," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "And then when it accumulates in the game, some fatigue comes in and maybe confidence to the other side comes in and you're dealing (with) and fighting that. So, you're fighting a tougher battle as a result, so we need to be a little more efficient, effective when we do have possession, especially coming out of our end."
Anton Lundell gave Florida a 5-4 lead one a one-timer from Carter Verhaeghe at 8:05, shortly after forward Eetu Luostarinen got his stick on the puck at the goal line from the left side of the net on a backhand attempt from Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund and with Knight out of his crease at the other side.
Huberdeau (18:37) and Lundell (19:55) each scored an empty-net goal for the 7-4 final.
"I wanted to thank him because if he wouldn't have stopped that, my goal wouldn't have counted," Lundell said.
Hinostroza gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:21 of the first period.
Dylan Cozens made it 2-0 at 7:41, and Hinostroza extended the Sabres lead to 3-0 at 14:25.

Carlsson scored his first NHL goal in his 25th game at 9:57 of the second period to make it 3-1.
"Really happy for him," Brunette said of Carlsson. "He's come in, got his feet wet, gotten in and out (out of the lineup) a little bit. He's taken the ball and he's not letting it go, and good for him. He's doing a little bit of everything for us."
Bobrovsky was pulled after Mittelstadt made it 4-1 at 11:16.
NOTES: Mittelstadt scored but was minus-3 in 19:02 in his return after missing 21 games because of an upper-body injury. … Sabres goalie Dustin Tokarski was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol prior to the game. Buffalo recalled goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from Rochester of the American Hockey League to back up Dell. … The Sabres acquired goalie
Malcolm Subban
from the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations before the game. … Huberdeau played his 614th NHL game, moving him into second place in Panthers history behind Stephen Weiss (654).