Florida has points in five straight games (4-0-1) with only one left until the playoffs
The Florida Panthers needed overtime to pick up their 51st victory of the season on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Sam Reinhart scored goal No. 55 with just over a minute left in the extra session to send the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
The game got off to a quick start when Tyson Jost’s wrist shot from the Panthers blueline eluded Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Sabres a quick 1-0 lead at the 2:59 mark.
About two minutes later, the game’s next shot also went in.
This time it was Anton Lundell sending a nifty backhand from between the circles past the blocker of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to tie the game at one.
A Kevin Stenlund shorthanded goal would make it 2-1 Florida just over eight minutes into the game, but Jack Quinn’s ninth goal of the season quickly tied it back up on the same Buffalo power play.
That’s how the score would remain through the second period.
Buffalo outshot the Panthers 14-11 but both goaltenders came up with several big saves, including a pair of breakaway stops by Bobrovsky on Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch.
The Panthers were given a five-minute power play during the third period when Connor Clifton was handed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head on Nick Cousins.
Florida put up seven shots on nine attempts during the five minutes but failed to beat Luukkonen.
Another power play for the Panthers bridged regulation and overtime but again, the Cats couldn’t’ solve the Sabres’ young tendy.
It took a sneaky shot by Sam Reinhart with 1:12 remaining in OT to send the Panthers fans home happy.
One game left until the playoffs, folks.
On to Toronto.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s matchup with the Sabres:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game after his fourth shift of the first period with an upper-body injury. He did not return.
Lundell’s strong April continues. He’s up to four goals and six points over his past six games.
The same goes for Matthew Tkachuk, who now has seven points in the six games he’s played this month.
Nick Cousins is also quietly on a nice little run. He’s got two goals and five points over his past five outings after logging an assist on Lundell’s goal.
Reinhart has scored in consecutive games for the tenth time this season.
Another streaking Cat is Sasha Barkov. With an assist on Reinhart’s winner, Barkov now has 12 points over his past 10 games.
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