Florida Panthers rally in the third period, but lose to the Buffalo Sabres
The Panthers answered coach Joel Quenneville’s call to get bodies to the net and create scoring chances during Saturday’s matinee.
That emphasis, however, did not produce enough goals, or a point in the standings.
Unable to score until late in the third period, the Panthers sputtered into the midway point of the season with a 3-2 loss to the Sabres.
“We missed a great opportunity to get something out of this game,” Quenneville said after the Panthers’ second loss on a four-game road trip that concludes Sunday in Pittsburgh. “Maybe not deserving, but almost there.”
Mike Matheson and Evgenii Dadonov scored in the final eight minutes, but the Panthers could not overcome a three-goal deficit in a game in which they had a 34-18 advantage in shots on goal.
“We did a good job of limiting their chances,” Matheson said.
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled from the net 5:33 into the second period after giving up goals on three of the seven shots he faced. Chris Driedger made 11 saves to help the Panthers have a chance to rally late.
Connor Sheary and Sam Reinhart scored on Buffalo’s first two shots of the second period. The Panthers controlled possession for most of the first period, limiting the Sabres to five shots, one of which Henri Jokiharju buried for the first goal 12:49 into the game.
“They didn’t have much time in there. He probably didn’t have enough shots to get into the game,” Quenneville said. “And I didn’t like the third goal.”
For most of the game, the Panthers again had trouble solving Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark, who made 43 saves in Buffalo’s win at Florida on Nov. 24.
The Panthers could not convert on several scoring chances from close range, including one on a partial breakaway by Aleksander Barkov that Ullmark kicked away.
“Of course, he’s a good goalie, a big goalie, playing really well right now in the net,” Barkov said. “At the same time, we could have done a better job to get to the net and shoot more pucks, and do a better job in front of the net.”
The Panthers also squandered three chances on the power play. They entered the game having scored on nine of their past 29 opportunities with the extra attacker, but this was the third time in four games the Panthers did not have a power-play goal.
“Our power play did a great job of generating a lot of chances,” Matheson said. “In the third period, we had a bunch of chances. So it’s just kind of one of those games where you look back on and you feel like you played a decent game. But if a couple of those shots had gone in, we’d be feeling much different.”
Losing against the Sabres for the third time this season, the Panthers are now 21-15-5 after 41 games. They are fourth in the Atlantic Division with 45 points, two ahead of Buffalo (19-17-7).
“It’s one of those games that could determine if you are going to be in the playoffs or not, at the halfway point,” Quenneville said. “It’s going to be like that until game 82. But these are the type of games that put you in that spot where you are going to get in.”
The Panthers left Buffalo eager to get back on the ice Sunday in Boston.
“It’s our last game of our road trip and it hasn’t gone exactly the way we wanted it to,” Matheson said. “So the best cure for that is to get right back at it next game and bury every chance we get.”
