The Buffalo Sabres earned a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena, extending their road point streak to eight games.
Buffalo improved to 34-19-6 on the season and finished the night in second place in the Atlantic Division with 74 points. Beck Malenstyn scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period, firing a slap shot through traffic with 8:22 remaining to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Florida challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the goal stood following review.
Alex Tuch opened the scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal and later added an assist. Peyton Krebs sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:43 of the third period, his fifth of the season, tying for the NHL lead. Florida added a late goal credited to Sam Bennett with 35 seconds remaining after a rebound deflected off Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and into the net.
Goaltender Alex Lyon made 27 saves for Buffalo and improved to 3-0-0 against Florida this season as the Sabres won three of four meetings in the season series.
Matthew Tkachuk scored Florida’s first goal on a second-period power play, while Daniil Tarasov stopped 36 shots for the Panthers, who have lost six of their last eight games.
Buffalo concludes its road trip Saturday, visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].