Sabres shut out by Panthers in road trip finale

SUNRISE, Fla. – With multiple players affected by illness, the Buffalo Sabres lost 4-0 to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

The Sabres were without forwards Jiri Kulich and Jordan Greenway due to the illness. Jack Quinn, who was labeled a game-time decision on Saturday morning, managed to play after the same illness forced him to leave Thursday’s game in Tampa.

The loss extended Buffalo’s winless streak to six games at 0-5-1. Vitek Vanecek – making his Panthers debut after being acquired in a trade with the Sharks – made 21 saves to give the Sabres their first shutout loss since Nov. 30.

“That’s a good hockey team on the other side,” Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson said. “They obviously had their chances. But I think we had some chances, too. … You bury a couple of those chances, it’s a different ballgame. Obviously we didn’t.”

The game was also Buffalo’s first following an emotional trade deadline day, which saw included the departures of a pair of longtime Sabres in forward Dylan Cozens and Henri Jokiharju and another popular locker room presence in defenseman Dennis Gilbert.

Josh Norris, who was acquired from Ottawa in the trade for Cozens and Gilbert, made his Sabres debut and skated 20:27, including time on both the power play and the penalty kill. He had three shot attempts and won eight of 15 faceoffs.

• READ: Norris embracing fresh start with Buffalo

The Sabres fell behind 1-0 at 7:20 of the first period on a play that began with Nate Schmidt drifting into open space in the left circle. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen came atop the crease to challenge the first shot, but Schmidt’s attempt on the rebound squeaked through Luukkonen’s pads. A.J. Greer pushed the puck across the goal line.

Carter Verhaeghe buried a shot through traffic for the Panthers’ second goal midway through the second period. Their third goal was a near carbon copy of their first, with Schmidt once again pinching low and just barely squeezing a shot through Luukkonen. This time, Anton Lundell pushed it across.

“Two of the goals were easy coverage goals,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We let a backside defenseman walk right down and create the opportunity when coverage was good everywhere else.”

The Sabres had their own share of quality chances despite being outshot 36-21. Peyton Krebs was turned aside by Vanecek on a breakaway just over a minute after the Panthers opened the scoring. Ryan McLeod was stopped alone in front when the score was 2-0.

“We didn’t take advantage of some of the plays we made,” Ruff said. “… We had the opportunities to stay right in the game. They were being overaggressive and we created the opportunities.”

The Sabres will return home and have a day to regroup before hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. They have 20 games remaining this season.

“We have to move on and we have to get ready and get better for the future,” Alex Tuch said. “We have to be the best we can be for these last 20 games. No matter what happens, we have to be the best we can individually and as a team.”

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Norris started the game centering a line with Tuch and Tage Thompson. Other wingers rotated alongside Norris and Thompson as the game wore on – including JJ Peterka and Zach Benson – which Ruff said was a measure to balance the top two lines.

Thompson drove to the net and set up a scoring chance for Norris early in the second period, but Vanecek made the stop. Still, Norris made a strong first impression with his skating and work ethic in his debut.

“Really good skater, really smart player,” Tuch said. “I think he’s got a really high ceiling and he’s got a really unique and exciting skill set that he brings to the table. He was working really hard out there, too.”

2. With Greenway and Kulich absent due to illness, the Sabres recalled Isak Rosen and Josh Dunne to join the lineup at forward.

Dunne, who signed a two-year deal this past offseason with 14 NHL games on his resume, made his Sabres debut. He skated 7:16 and landed several blows during a third-period fight with Greer.

“Greer’s a tough man,” Ruff said. “[Dunne] did a great job.”

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Tickets are available here.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game is exclusively streaming on ESPN+ and Hulu.