Sabres wrap: JJ Peterka's late goal not enough to spark comeback in shootout loss

SUNRISE, Fla. — Anton Lundell scored in the first shootout round to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Amerant Bank Arena. 

Panthers goalie Vitek Vanecek stopped Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch in the shootout. The Sabres (35-37-7) are winless in back-to-back games and dropped to 13-23-4 away from KeyBank Center. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves between regulation and overtime.

Rasmus Dahlin's power-play goal with 18.8 seconds left in the first period gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead. It was Dahlin's 17th goal this season, and he has five goals in his last 11 games.

The Panthers rallied with two goals in the second period to pull ahead 2-1. Carter Verhaeghe tied it, 1-1, then Jesse Puljujarvi gave Florida the lead when he tipped a shot with 5:13 remaining. Buffalo lost defenseman Owen Power did not return for the third period because of an undisclosed injury. 

Buffalo was struggling to create scoring chances until Florida took a series of undisciplined penalties to give the Sabres a 5-on-3 power play, and Peterka tied it 2-2 with 7:42 left in regulation. 

The Panthers rested Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov in preparation for the Stanley Cup playoffs. They were also without Matthew Tkachuk (injury), Sam Bennett (injury) and Aaron Ekblad (suspension).

First period

• Connor Clifton's boarding penalty gave the Panthers a power play with 14:26 left in the first period. Beck Malenstyn blocked two shots, one of which forced him to leave briefly for the dressing room. Zach Benson and Ryan McLeod had important clears, and Luukkonen made four saves.

• Tuch hit the far post with a 2-on-1 shot from the right circle midway through the first period. The Sabres had a 7-3 edge in shots on goal at the first television timeout.

• Panthers defenseman Jaycob Megna's 2-on-1 shot was stopped by Luukkonen as Peyton Krebs applied pressure on the backcheck. 

• Sabres rookie Noah Ostlund was parked near the crease when he redirected Sam Lafferty's pass, but Vanecek got over to make the save with 5:16 left in the first period.

• Benson's backhand shot was stopped by Vanecek after Thompson sent the second-year winger behind the Panthers' defense with a pass. Florida cleared the puck from its crease, but it went directly to Owen Power, whose wrist shot was stopped by Vanecek.

• Evan Rodrigues tripped Peterka to give the Sabres a power play with 1:06 left in the first period. Dahlin carried the puck into the offensive zone and passed to Jason Zucker. The Panthers collapsed to the left circle to try to stop Zucker, but the winger passed back to Dahlin, who shot into the open net for a 1-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the first period.

• The Sabres entered the game with a 20-8-5 record when leading at the end of the first period. 

Second period

• Panthers defenseman Seth Jones cut across the slot and snapped the puck at Luukkonen, who was in position to make the save 40 seconds into the second period.

• Verhaeghe tied it 1-1 with his goal five minutes into the second period. The puck ricocheted off the end boards to Verhaeghe, who cut across the slot and beat Luukkonen with a backhand shot. 

• Vanecek stopped Jiri Kulich's shot from the slot, then Thompson missed the net as Jones covered Kulich during a 2-on-1 rush for Buffalo.

• The Panthers took a 2-1 lead on Balinskis' shot from the point 15:24 into the second period. Rodrigues and Jesse Puljujarvi were trying to tip the puck, but Luukkonen failed to snare it with his glove.

• Kulich was knocked out of the game when he was struck in the head on a blindside hit by Panthers fourth-line winger Jonah Gadjovich, whose major penalty was rescinded. Kulich returned for the start of the third period. 

• The Sabres entered the game with a 6-26-1 record when trailing at the second intermission.

Third period

• Luukkonen stopped AJ Greer's shot from the slot 2:38 into the third period, then Tuch fought Gadjovich off the faceoff as payback for the hit on Kulich. 

• Greer punched Dahlin and sparred with Benson, and the Sabres got a 5-on-3 power play out of the scrums. They nearly killed it off themselves by overpassing in the offensive zone, then Peterka tied it 2-2 with 7:41 left in the third period.

• Verhaeghe and Clifton took matching penalties with 4:39 let in the third period. 

Lineup

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff used the following lineup at the start of the game:

Zach Benson - Jiri Kulich - Tage Thompson

JJ Peterka - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn

Jason Zucker - Peyton Krebs - Alex Tuch

Beck Malenstyn - Noah Ostlund - Sam Lafferty

Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power - Jacob Bernard-Docker

Bowen Byram - Connor Clifton

Next

The Sabres' final road game of the season is Sunday in Tampa Bay. Faceoff against the Lightning is 6 p.m.