Yandle propels Panthers past Sabres

BUFFALO -- Keith Yandle had a goal and two assists to help the Florida Panthers to a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
After Ryan O'Reilly gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 7:02 of the first period, Yandle tied it with his sixth goal of the season at 11:06 when he received a pass from Aleksander Barkov and scored over Chad Johnson's glove.

"It's big," Yandle said. "Anytime you can get a couple goals, and then obviously giving one up early in the second was tough, but we showed we stay with the program and do what the coaches tell us and finding a way to get one in the third and it's a big win."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Sabres highlights]
Mike Matheson gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 14:29 of the first period, and Yandle set up Denis Malgin for his eighth goal at 18:11 when he found Malgin alone in front of the net for a backhand shot.
"[Yandle's] been our point man all year back there when it comes to offense and power play, running the power play," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "He's probably played in a lot of different situations this year and been asked a lot more of him previously. He's playing shutdown role, [penalty kill], running the power play, and he's been great for us all year."

Harri Sateri made 30 saves for the Panthers (21-22-6) who have won back-to-back games. Sateri has made three consecutive starts because of injuries to Roberto Luongo and James Reimer.
"Harri played great, especially when we weren't very good in front of him in the third period. He made some huge stops and I thought he was the difference tonight," Boughner said. "It's nice to see him rolling with a little confidence and getting his second win, and it's nice to keep getting these wins with the depth of our goaltending."
Johnson made 28 saves for the Sabres (14-28-9), who have lost four of their past five home games.
"We definitely had enough chances after the first period," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "I thought we had them on the ropes a couple times, and unfortunately we were missing the net, trying to be too fine."
Zemgus Girgensons scored a shorthanded goal 32 seconds into the second period. It was the Sabres' sixth shorthanded goal this season.

Colton Sceviour made it 4-2 at 17:36 of the third period with his seventh goal.
"I think they were trying to push for a goal and I think it turned into a 2-on-1, and I was initially looking for [Barkov] but the [defenseman] wanted me to shoot instead of [Barkov] and it worked out well for me," Sceviour said.
The goal was Sceviour's 100th NHL point.
"A while ago I might not have thought I'd get to 100 points, so I don't know how I imagined it," Sceviour said.

Goal of the game

Yandle's goal at 11:06 of the first period.

Save of the game

Sateri's blocker save against Jason Pominville at 12:04 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Sceviour's goal at 17:36 of the third period.

They said it

"They pushed hard, they battled hard, and we were lucky enough to get that fourth goal. But our ice was slanted in the second half of the game, and I think our brains turned off a little bit. We were making mental mistakes, maybe some tired mistakes, but all in all you can't complain. You get two points and won two in a row on the road and going back home for a bit now, so I'm happy to have the two points." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"We just couldn't stay out of the box in that first period, and it cost us. We've got to make sure that we keep going. We get that first goal there and we're up 1-0 and we've just got to keep pushing. We just didn't do a good enough job staying out of the box and we just didn't have enough finish in the second and third." -- Sabres right wing Kyle Okposo

Need to know

Barkov (one assist) had his first point in five games. … The Panthers power play went 2-for-7. … O'Reilly has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the past 10 games.

What's next

Panthers: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-D+, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-MW, NHL.TV)