Lyon makes 32 saves, Sabres hand Panthers 4th straight loss

BUFFALO -- Alex Lyon made 32 saves for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-0 win against the Florida Panthers at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

It was Lyon's first shutout with Buffalo and the fifth of his NHL career, which includes 15 games with the Panthers in 2022-23.

"Obviously, there's the natural human nature aspect of it, seeing familiar faces, and it's also just a great team," said Lyon, who signed with the Sabres as a free agent on July 1. "I knew it was going to be a test, and we were going to be tested today. It was just a great job and happy to get the win."

Josh Doan scored twice, and Owen Power scored for the Sabres (2-3-0), who have won two in a row after losing their first three games of the season.

"We tried really hard and worked hard to stay steady through those first three (games) and it didn't go for us," Lyon said. "But I think in the same vein, you have to continue to try to stay steady now. … We just have to remain on track and not be satisfied with ourselves and keep stringing together good efforts. That's what good teams do."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers (3-4-0), who have lost four straight after opening the season with three straight wins.

"This league is so hard, so challenging for every team," Bobrovsky said. "Every organization, they have good players. The challenge is so high. I didn't expect we're going to win all 82 games. You're going to face some challenges. You just have to weather them, stay composed, stay together and keep doing our thing, keep playing with our structure."

Doan gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead on the power play at 7:13 of the first period. Tage Thompson's shot from the right wall went off Doan's leg in front and beat Bobrovsky blocker side.

It was Doan's first goal with the Sabres after he was acquired with defenseman Michael Kesselring in a trade with the Utah Mammoth for forward JJ Peterka on June 26.

"Great guy on the puck, getting around the puck, getting to the net," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of Doan. "Really, I think we've just seen a glimpse of his game."

Doan made it 2-0 when he redirected Jason Zucker's pass by Bobrovsky's right skate at 11:12 of the second period on the power play.

"I think chaos is a strength of my game when the puck is bouncing around and the forechecker around the net," Doan said. "That's where I take pride in my game. And we've got a good, good couple of games going where [Zach Benson] is back, and he's doing the same thing, creating chaos like that. So it's been a lot of fun, and I enjoy doing that."

Power jumped up to join the rush and took a feed from Alex Tuch down low that he chipped over Bobrovsky's right pad to push it to 3-0 at 14:20.

Florida has been outscored 15-4 during its losing streak.

"It's not really going in for anyone right now," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. "I think a little bit more urgency, a little bit more assertiveness. It's almost like when it's not going your way, especially early on in a year, you start deferring. You start hoping once you get in the offensive zone that something's going to work out as opposed to taking the bull by the horns and kind of do it yourself and kind of attack the game."

The Panthers were 0-for-7 on the power-play with 15 shots on goal.

"We certainly came out with the mentality to shoot the puck tonight, which we didn't think we had enough of, but out of sync at times," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

NOTES: Panthers forward Brad Marchand's point streak ended at five games (three goals, three assists). … Ruff said defenseman Jacob Bryson is in concussion protocol after taking a hit from Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich early in the first period. He played one shift before leaving the game. … Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola left the game 4:14 into the second period with an upper-body injury. Maurice said they'll "get a better look at him tomorrow" and should know more by Monday.