Collapse continues as Panthers lose 5-3 to Sabres

"The injury-riddled Florida Panthers blew an early two-goal lead and dropped their fourth consecutive game, falling 5-3 to the rising Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida got off to a quick start, opening the scoring just 37 seconds in when Niko Mikkola's slapper struck A.J. Greer in the back and fortoitous rookie Sandis Vilmanis sniped Alex Lyon's glove for his second NHL goal."

"After the Panthers failed to convert on some prime chances,. the Sabres pulled one back at the 15:03 mark when Tage Thompson manuvered away from Björnfot and blew a wrister heavier than the Nirvana tune by Sergei Bobrovsky with Alex Tuch providing a helpful screen. The assists on Thompson's 29th went to Peyton Krebs and Rasmus Dahlin. Buffalo would score off the rush 3:23 later to tie things up before the break."

"The Sabres would pull ahead 5:35 into middle stanza when Bobrvosky made an ill-advised decision to come out and try to play Owen Power's clear in right circle. Ryan McLeod, who had just come out of the penalty box, beat him to the puck and cnetered to Benson, who shot the puck through Forsling's legs to light the lamp. A slashing call on Jack Quinn put the Cats on a late power play and they would take advantage to forge a 3-3 tie."

Florida opened quickly, scoring 37 seconds in as Sandis Vilmanis converted off a fortuitous bounce. The Panthers extended the lead at 5:54 on a sequence involving Sam Reinhart, Mattias Samuelsson's stick and a redirect that credited Tobias Björnfot with an assist. Buffalo responded before the first intermission through Tage Thompson and later tied the game off a Michael Kesselring outlet and a Peyton Krebs finish. The Sabres took the lead early in the second when Bobrvosky misplayed a clear and Ryan McLeod fed Benson for a goal. Florida tied late on a power-play snap by Uvis Balinskis, but Buffalo ultimately prevailed 5-3.

Read at Litter Box Cats