Ex-Files Day #6 – Montour and Reinhart with goals in victory over Lightning
On Wednesday, Jack Eichel helped the Vegas Golden Knights take control of their best-of-seven first-round series against Dallas. On Thursday, another former Buffalo Sabres team captain contributed in his first playoff game in over eight years.
Kyle Okposo registered an assist on former Sabre Brandon Montour’s first goal of the playoffs in a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 35-year-old winger was inserted in the shorthanded Panthers lineup after they lost forwards Sam Bennett (hand) and Ryan Lomberg (illness) after taking the first two games in Sunrise, FL earlier this week.
Sam Reinhart also added his second goal of the postseason in the win that put the Panthers up 3-0 in the series and the Lightning on the brink of elimination.
Reinhart, 1 goal, 21:34 TOI, 3 SOG, -1
Montour, 1 goal, 1 assist 20:46 TOI, 2 SOG, +3
Okposo, 1 assist, 6:41 TOI, 1 SOG, +2
Evan Rodrigues, 11:15 TOI
Dmitri Kulikov, 14:23 TOI, 1 SOG, -2
Both Reinhart and Montour are unrestricted free agents at the end of the season and are well-positioned to get a big raise from either the Panthers or another interested club this summer. Florida is an attractive team to re-sign with and has over $20 million in projected available cap space this summer, but Reinhart will be looking to get in the same neighborhood as team captain Aleksander Barkov ($10 million) or Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5 million). The 30-year-old Montour could get more than Aaron Ekblad’s $7.5 million on his new deal.
Tampa Bay Lightning - Brandon Hagel, Conor Sheary
The former Sabres draft pick played nearly 20 minutes in the loss and was on the ice for two Florida goals. Sheary did not play for the third straight game.
LATEST THN BUFFALO STORIES
Sabres Say They Are Ready For Accountability