RECAP: Panthers 4, Sabres 3

BUFFALO – Fire meet water.

Cooling off the hottest team in the NHL, a pair of goals from A.J. Greer helped lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.

Improving to 24-18-3, the Panthers are just the second team since Dec. 9 to hand a loss to the Sabres, who entered tonight’s matchup with wins in 13 of their previous 14 matchups.

With the win, Florida is now within one point of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s really tight,” forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “Every game is huge.”

Making himself at home in his old stomping grounds, former Sabre Sam Reinhart put the Panthers on top 1-0 in the first period when he set up shop just outside the blue paint and tipped in a quick point shot from Uvis Balinskis on the power play at 2:35.

Over the past two games, the Panthers have gone 3-for-5 with the extra attacker.

“Sometimes, it’s easy when you get one that early to slow it down and try and feel the puck and get into it,” said Reinhart, who now leads the Panthers with 24 goals. “I thought we were quick. I don’t think we had another opportunity, so obviously liked [the power play].”

Taking advantage of heavy traffic in front of the net, Jacob Bryson evened the score for the Sabres when he fired a point shot past a blinded Sergei Bobrosky to make it 1-1 at 10:19.

Answering for the Panthers, Greer flew into the zone, took a pass from Sam Bennett and beat Colten Ellis with a wicked snipe from the top of the right circle to make it 2-1 at 15:11.

With 3:25 left in the period, Donovan Sebrango fought Buffalo’s Josh Dunne.

Later, with the Sabres threatening with a 6-on-5 advantage on a delayed penalty, Bobrovsky came up with a goal-saving stop when he kicked out a shot with spectacular toe save.

Earning his 206th career road win to move into a tie with Ed Belfour for the third most in NHL history, Bobrovsky finished 20 saves, including five impressive high-danger stops.

“It’s kind of the style of game they play that when they get something, it’s high end and it’s dangerous,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Buffalo's attack. “He had to make a couple of saves for us that were really important.”

Getting the game knotted back up for the Sabres just before the second intermission, Zach Benson squeaked a rebound past Bobrovsky’s skate blade to make it 2-2 at 17:57.

A very even matchup, the Panthers led 20-17 in shots on goal after 40 minutes.

With that tight back-and-forth action carrying over into the third period, the Panthers finally regained the lead when Anton Lundell tapped in a pass from Luostarinen during some chaos around Buffalo’s crease to make it 3-2 at 11:07.

After the Sabres pulled their goaltender for a late 6-on-5 advantage, Greer registered his second goal of the game when he sent the puck into the empty net to make it 4-2 at 18:46.

Moving up into the top-six for the injury-depleted Panthers, Greer has risen to the occasion to the tune a career-best nine goals, while also matching his career-high point total of 17.

“I think that confidence that I brought in from last year and the offseason leading up to it, I’m just really happy with how things are going,” Greer said. “I definitely give a huge compliment to my linemates and to the coaches for giving me the opportunity.”

With 14 seconds left, Alex Tuch scored to cut Buffalo’s deficit to 4-3.

A strong finish, the Panthers surrendered only six shots on goal in the third period.

“Man, we were good,” Maurice said. “I think we’d given up one shot through the first 11 minutes [of the third period]. I don’t know when the shot came, but at the nine-minute timeout we’d given up one. We weren’t sitting back. We weren’t just flipping pucks out. We were trying to push the pace.”

THEY SAID IT

“It was a tough road trip. We’re playing good teams – fast, transitional teams. … Being able to get two points, we lost some players, so I thought everyone did a great job.” – A.J. Greer

“We did a good job [on the penalty kill]. Obviously, they’ve been feeling good. I think we did a good job on those entries, denying them. Overall, the pressure we can put on is good.” – Eetu Luostarinen

“He (A.J. Greer) has got so much jump. He’s so quick on pucks and he’s playing with some confidence. That’s a nice combination to have.” – Sam Reinhart

CATS STATS

- Gustav Forsling has tallied three points (1G, 2A) over his last two games.

- Eetu Luostarinen and Aaron Ekblad each blocked three shots.

- Niko Mikkola saw a team-high 25:16 of ice time.

- Sam Reinhart registered a team-high seven shots on goal.

- Sergei Bobrovsky improved to 17-8-2 in his career against Buffalo.

WHAT’S NEXT?

A quick reset and then it’s back on the road.

After a few days in the sunshine, the Panthers will hit the skies again for a road back-to-back, starting with a battle against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Friday.

To find a place to watch in South Florida, click HERE.