No rally this time as Florida Panthers fall behind early in loss to Buffalo Sabres

The Florida Panthers came into the weekend on a high note, riding a season-long three-game win streak capped by a miraculous rally from four goals down to defeat the Anaheim Ducks.

They left searching for answers to get back to that point.

The Panthers followed up a 4-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at the BB&T Center.

It marked the first time this year that the Panthers (12-7-5) had lost consecutive games in regulation and therefore went more than one game without picking up points. Florida was 4-0-1 in games following a regulation loss before this weekend.

“We’re going to have to go through something like that. Every team’s going to go through it,” winger Brett Connolly said. “It’s a matter of how we respond.”

The loss on Sunday came against a Buffalo team that had lost nine of its past 10 games — seven in regulation — and had scored four goals just twice in that span.

The Panthers were also more aggressive on the offensive end, outshooting the Sabres 45-25.

But Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark was remarkable in net, making 43 saves, and the Sabres made the most of their limited opportunities early.

“We had a lot of shots, a lot of rebounds, a lot of nice plays around the net,” center and team captain Aleksander Barkov said. “... It wasn’t our day.”

Florida found itself down 3-0 less than four minutes into the second period despite being the Panthers holding the Sabres to just seven shots on goal in that frame.

Jeff Skinner opened scoring with 3:36 remaining in the first period when he re-directed a wide pass from Jack Eichel past Panthers goaltender Sam Montembeault.

The Sabres (11-9-3) doubled their lead less than two minutes later when Zemus Girgensons blasted a shot from the left side through traffic and underneath Montembeault’s right arm.

Eichel then scored one himself with 16:18 left in the second period, when his wrist shot from the right circle slid into the net.

Noel Acciari gave the Panthers one goal back when he slipped a shot past Ullman in front of the net with 10:31 left in the period. It was Acciari’s fifth goal of the season.

But five minutes later, a Victor Olofsson snap shot put the Sabres back up three goals.

Connolly added a Panthers power-play goal with 16:52 remaining in regulation. It was Connolly’s team-leading 11th goal of the season and his first on the power play. It snapped a three-game stretch in which Florida went scoreless on the man advantage.

The Panthers entered Sunday ranked sixth in the NHL in power-play efficiency, scoring on 24.3 percent of its opportunities.

Girgensons closed scoring with an insurance goal for Buffalo with 6:35 left when he rebounded his own shot and squeaked it past Monteambault.

“It was one of those games where you think you might be playing OK,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said, “but whether you’re out-chancing them, outshooting them, out-possessing them, you’re behind for a reason. I think that we’ve been playing with that danger of giving up goals that don’t even look like there’s a chance they’d go in our net and all of a sudden you’re down. We’ve got to make them earn them.”

Montembeault dropped to 3-2-1 on the year.

Iron clad Yands

Defenseman Keith Yandle, despite taking a puck to face in first period of Saturday’s loss in Carolina that resulted in him losing multiple teeth, played Sunday to continue his iron man streak. He was on the ice for a team-high 23:38 against the Sabres.

“Give him credit,” Quenneville said. “He did a lot of good things. The fact that he’s out there under those circumstances and still trying to generate something offensively for us, give him credit.”

Yandle has now played in 821 consecutive games. That is the NHL’s active leader, the all-time record for a defenseman and fifth all-time in NHL history.

Yandle has played in every game since March 26, 2009.

Andrew Cogliano is fourth with 830 consecutive games played spanning from Oct. 4, 2007 to Jan. 13, 2018.

Doug Jarvis is the NHL’s record holder for consecutive games with 964. Garry Unger (914) and Steve Larmer (884) follow in second and third.

Stillman returns

The Panthers recalled defenseman Riley Stillman from their American Hockey League affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds ahead of Sunday’s game against Buffalo.

Stillman, a fourth-round pick by the Panthers in 2016, has played in three games for the Panthers this year.

He was a scratch on Sunday, along with the injured Jayce Hawryluk and MacKenzie Weegar.

Next up

The Panthers travel to face the Washington Capitals on Wednesday with the puck drop set for 7 p.m.

After that, Florida will hold a nine-game homestand that starts Saturday and runs through Dec. 20.

“We’ve got a big game coming up Wednesday and then all of a sudden you’ve got a stretch at home,” Quenneville said. “Let’s get back to the drawing board here and tighten things up and look at doing things the right way.”