The Florida Panthers scoring woes continued in a 3-0 loss to former goaltender Alex Lyon and the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Arena.
Florida earned two early power plays, but failed to convert on either, setting the stage for an afternoon of offensive disappointment.
It only took the Sabres six seconds to score on their first man-advantage chance. Following an offensive zone faceoff, Zach Benson sent the puck back to Rasmus Dahlin and he crossed to Tage Thompson at the right point. Thompson put the puck towards the net and Josh Doan deflected it past Sergei Bobrovsky for the eventual game-winning goal 7:13 into the opening frame.
Doan would tip home a crossing pass from Jason Zucker at 11:12 of the second with Brad Marchand in the penalty box to put Buffalo up by two. Benson drew the secondary assist on Doan’s second marker.
After receiving a return pass from Payton Krebs, Alex Tuch spotted a wide-open Owen Power and fed him down low for the game’s only even-strength goal 3:08 later to put the toothless Panthers in an insurmountable hole.
Lyon finished the game with 32 saves, collecting his first shutout and second win of the season for his new team.
The Panthers, who went 0-for-7 on the power play, have lost four in a row, and will look to regroup and end this miserable road trip with a win in Boston on Tuesday.
The Five Hole
- The Panthers had 17 high-danger shot attempts and 15 power-play shots on Alex Lyon, but it was all for naught, as they just can’t find the back of the net right now.
- Brad Marchand saw his five-game point streak come to an end in the shutout loss. Marchand was had four shots on goal and collected four PIM.
- Mackie Samoskevich registered a game-high seven shots on goal and was credited with one hit in 17:46 TOI.
- The depleted Panthers lost defenseman Niko Mikkola 4:14 into the second period with an upper-body injury. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.
- Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves and took his second loss of the season.
Stat Card
