It may only be three games into the season, but the Florida Panthers are already playing a bit shorthanded.
When Florida took the ice Saturday night in Buffalo, they were missing Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, having to play with only 11 forwards.
Barkov will be out for the next several weeks with a lower-body injury while Tkachuk is just under the weather and hopefully will be in Florida’s lineup on Monday in Buffalo.
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The scrappy Cats came up short against a Buffalo squad hungry for their first win, falling to the Sabres 5-2.
It was actually Florida that got on the scoreboard first, as the Cats capitalized on a scoring chance off the rush.
Some quick puck movement from the Panthers end to Buffalo’s ended with A.J. Greer dropping the puck off for Nate Schmidt, who fired the puck past Devon Levi to give the Cats a 1-0 lead at the 9:01 mark.
Two goals in 41 seconds late in the period gave Buffalo their first lead of the night, and a third goal 94 seconds into the middle frame had the Sabres suddenly in control of the game.
Buffalo briefly extended their lead to three goals late in the second but a power play goal by Sam Bennett off a slick cross-ice feed from Sam Reinhart brought Florida back within two after two.
The winless Sabres did a good job suppressing Florida’s attempts at sustaining any offensive pressuring during the third period, allowing the Panthers just four shots on goal.
An Alex Tuch empty-net goal off a ill-advised pass by Adam Boqvist sealed the win for the Sabres.
On to Boston.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Bennett is up to three goals and four points in Florida’s first three games.
His power play goal was Florida’s first of the season. They’re now 1-for-10 with the man advantage through three games.
Florida’s penalty kill went 3-for-3 in Buffalo and is up to 8-for-10 on the year.
Starting his first NHL game in 20 months, Knight turned away 22 of the 26 shots he faced.
Back to Bennett for a second. He’s the only Panthers player who has points in all three games they’ve played.
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