RECAP: Sabres 3, Panthers 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – Looking sharp on the second half of a back-to-back, the Florida Panthers came up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.

With the loss, the Panthers now sit at 30-26-3.

“Not cheating on effort,” head coach Paul Maurice said of his team's performance. “We’re doing the best we can.”

After some frantic back-and-forth action, the Sabres broke the ice late in the first period when Alex Tuch picked a corner from the slot on the power play to make it 1-0 at 17:48.

With 20 minutes in the books, each team had already racked up 10 scoring chances.

Just a few hours after announcing that forward Cole Schwindt will be out long-term with a lower-body injury, the Panthers, who’ve been at the mercy of the injury bug all season, lost another key player in the second period when defenseman Uvis Balinskis left the game.

“We’ll get him looked at tomorrow,” Maurice said. “We don’t know the extent of it yet.”

Earning a trip to the power play after a stretch of up-tempo play, the Panthers cashed in and evened the score when Matthew Tkachuk roofed a shot over Alex Lyon’s blocker from the left side of the net to make it 1-1 at 13:51.

Gearing up for a big home stretch, Tkachuk has scored in each of the last two games.

“I’ve felt good since I’ve come back,” Tkachuk said. “It took me a couple games to get going, but health-wise and timing [I’m good]. … Trying to use the momentum, and not even the momentum of winning [at the Winter Olympics]. Just more playing every other day.”

Keeping the game tied, Daniil Tarasov made a clutch stop on Mattias Samuelsson, who was denied on a point-blank shot from the slot with just over two minutes left in the period.

Finishing with 36 saves, Tarasov kept the Panthers in the fight all game.

“He was unreal,” Tkachuk said. “He definitely was the best player tonight.”

In the third period, the Sabres took a 2-1 lead when Beck Malenstyn buried a long shot at 11:38. But on the goal, one of Buffalo’s skaters made clear contact with Tarasov’s glove as he tried to make the save. Unfortunately, the goal was upheld by officials after a challenge by Florida.

In their official ruling, the NHL Situation Room described the contact as “incidental.”

Despite that decision, it’s hard to argue with your eyes.

“I thought he was riding the glove and made contact with it twice,” Maurice said. “For me, that was pretty quick and easy [to challenge]. I didn’t spend much time thinking about it.”

After the Panthers pulled Tarasov for a late 6-on-5 advantage, Peyton Krebs capitalized on the empty net for the Sabres to make it 3-1 at 18:43. Pulling their goaltender once again, the Panthers clawed to get the game to 3-2 with 34.8 seconds left on a goal from Sam Bennett.

Extending his road winning streak to nine games, Lyon stopped 28 of 29 shots.

With 23 games left to play, the Panthers can only keep on pushing.

“We just need to believe,” defenseman Niko Mikkola said. “Believe, grind hard, get the wins.”

THEY SAID IT

“Tarry (Daniil Tarasov) was great. There were chances at both ends. The goaltending was world class.” – Paul Maurice

“We just need to regroup and get the first wins on the road.” – Niko Mikkola

“It felt like we had some good looks early in the third. It was a tight game. Goals were hard to come by even though chances weren’t. Both goalies played really well." – Matthew Tkachuk

CATS STATS

- Brad Marchand recorded his 69^th career point against Buffalo – his most against any team.

- The Panthers led 9-7 in scoring chances in the third period.

- Daniil Tarasov made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- Evan Rodrigues went 15-for-20 (75%) in the faceoff circle.

- Aaron Ekblad had a team-high four hits.

- Gustav Forsling blocked a team-high three shots.

- Sam Bennett reached the 20-goal mark for the third straight season.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Pack your bags.

With points at a premium, the Panthers will try to make their move on the road when they kick off a four-game trip against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

To find out where to watch in South Florida, click HERE.