The Florida Panthers were facing off against the struggling Buffalo Sabres, looking to get back in the win column.
The game started off on a really good note for the Florida Panthers, as they dictated play early on in the Sabres’ end. To their support, however, goaltender Linus Ullmark kept his side tied scoreless after experiencing a multitude of shots.
Whether it was stopping Brian Boyle out in front or denying Colton Sceviour’s shorthanded breakaway, Ullmark was sharp throughout the first twenty minutes of play, giving the Sabres a shot to open up the game.
Buffalo did just that and capitalized on one of their few good chances after Jack Eichel found Jeff Skinner drifting towards goal, who redirected the initial pass to put the away side on the board first.
The Panthers continued to pepper Ullmark with rubber, but it was no use, as the Swedish netminder remained calm no matter what managed to come his way.
Just before the first period concluded, the Sabres added a cushion through Zemgus Girgensons, who ripped a shot over Sam Montembeault’s shoulder to double the Sabres’ lead.
After one, the Panthers were clearly the better side based on chances created and zone time, but instead, it was the Sabres who were up by two goals.
In the second, the Sabres got on the board again, this time from Jack Eichel. Eichel walked in uncontested and fired a shot past Montembeault to extend his side’s lead to three.
Moments later, the Panthers received their first power play of the game – but squandered the chance to get on the board after failing to set up.
After chance after chance, the Cats finally got their goal through Noel Acciari, who snapped a shot past Ullmark after a loose puck was sitting near his crease.
Shortly after, the Panthers came inches away from trimming Buffalo’s lead down to one after Aaron Ekblad rang a shot off the crossbar, which stayed out.
Unfortunately, all of those chances created didn’t matter as Victor Olofsson provided a huge blow by regaining the Sabres’ three-goal lead (4-1).
The Cats were headed to the dressing room down by three goals after forty minutes of play, forced to come back in a span of twenty remaining minutes.
To start the third, forward Dominic Toninato drew a tripping penalty, sending the Panthers to their third power play of the game.
Unlike the last two, the Cats cashed in on this one through Brett Connolly’s eleventh of the season. Connolly released an absolute snipe, which found its way into the top corner.
The Panthers continued to buzz around the Sabres’ zone, firing loose pucks towards Ullmark’s cage. Unfortunately, though, Ullmark was able to handle them and capped the Panthers at just two goals through the night.
Girgensons would go on to add more salt to the Panthers’ wound, putting the Sabres up by three once again. He was able to squeeze his rebound through Montembeault’s armpit, which the Canadian youngster would love to have back.
The Buffalo Sabres would go on to win by a score of 5-2, extending the Panthers’ losing streak to two games. Despite outshooting the Sabres 45-26, the Cats couldn’t do enough to get pucks by him Ullmark and ultimately keep pucks out of their own goal.
Realistically, the Panthers did outplay the Sabres by a wide margin throughout the majority of the game. However, they were quite poor clinically and received subpar goaltending from Sam Montembeault.
Ideally, this game was a wakeup call for the Cats, as they are now headed to the nation’s capital to take on the mighty Washington Capitals – who sit first in the Metropolitan.
Your Panthers are back in action on Wednesday, November. 27 @ 7 P.M. against the Capitals, looking to break their two-game losing skid.