MIAMI — The Florida Panthers have plundered the Buffalo Sabres for key contributors to help build a Stanley Cup contender in the last year and made their return to Western New York on Monday, for the most part, a good one.
Brandon Montour, who played parts of three seasons for the Sabres before the Panthers dealt for him ahead of the trade deadline last year, scored the opening goal on Florida’s first shot in the first period. Sam Reinhart, whom Buffalo took second overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and traded to the Panthers in the offseason, had a second-period assist while Florida pulled away for a 6-1 win. Spencer Knight even came 6:18 away from a shutout in his return to the NHL after more than a month in the American Hockey League, making things easy on the Panthers during an uncharacteristic slow start.
The only blemish was a first-period injury scare for Anton Lundell, who jammed his left leg against the boards after a legal check and did not return with a lower-body injury. The center, who has emerged as a contender for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie, got pushed from behind and went feet first into the boards behind the Sabres’ net, and was clearly hobbled as he left the ice, although there was no specification about the potential severity of the injury.
Even without Lundell, the Panthers turned 1-0 lead at the end of the first period into a 5-0 blowout by the end of the second to cruise on the first night of a back-to-back set. The win also vaults Florida back into first place in the Atlantic Division, although the Tampa Bay Lightning still has a slight in points percentage with one fewer game played.
Montour scored with 14:38 left in the first period on a one-timer off a feed from behind the net from star center Aleksander Barkov. It was the Panthers’ first shot on goal and one of only three in the first period for most prolific offense in the NHL. Buffalo (18-32-8) actually managed to outshoot Florida, 11-3, in the first as Knight kept the Panthers ahead with steady play.
It was a majorly positive sign for the rookie, who began the year with serious Calder Trophy aspirations and wound up shunted into a reserve role when fellow goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky put together a resurgent first half.
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old, who became the youngest goaltender in league history to win his postseason debut when he took over in net following Bobrovsky’s struggles, had a rocky first half, posting an .898 save percentage with a 3.23 goals against average. His underwhelming half, along with Bobrovsky’s return to borderline All-Star form, led Florida to loan him to AHL Charlotte last month to get him regular playing time.
At least Monday, the decision appeared to pay off. In eight starts with the Charlotte Checkers, Knight had a .924 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average, and he built on his play in his NHL return by stopping 28 of 29 shots he faced — including the first 26 — to silence Buffalo’s KeyBank Arena, and the Panthers needed him in the first period.
By the second, they didn’t. Forward Noel Acciari scored — with an assist from Montour — with 14:06 left in the second period and winger Anthony Duclair scored a power-play goal 1:45 later with Reinhart getting a secondary assist when his shot created a big rebound.
Four minutes later, forward Carter Verhaeghe scored to push the lead to 4-0 and then right wing Patric Horqvist finished a 3-on-1 1:03 later to give Florida its five-goal lead. Eventually, the Panthers did what they were supposed to do against one of the worst teams in the league.
Up next
On Tuesday, Florida will play on back-to-back nights for the first time in more than a month when it wraps up a quick two-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Bobrovsky will likely get the start in net against the Penguins (34-14-9) in Pittsburgh. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
