SUNRISE, Fla. – Owen Power is about to join a team on the rise. But for all the success the Buffalo Sabres have had since March 1, there's still going to be growing pains. The last two games have driven that point home in stark fashion.
On the day they signed their No. 1 overall pick to his entry-level contract, the Sabres blew a two-goal lead for the second straight night. On Thursday night in Carolina, a 3-1 advantage turned into a 5-3 loss, and it was more of the save Friday in FLA Live Arena.
The Sabres had a similar 3-1 lead through one period, but again couldn't hold the advantage. The Florida Panthers got even after 40 minutes and handed Buffalo a heartbreaking 4-3 victory as Sam Bennett converted a tap-in off an Aleksander Barkov feed with 37.3 seconds left in regulation.
On the winning goal, Rasmus Dahlin was unable to clear the puck out of the defensive zone and was caught in no-man's land as the Panthers quickly turned it into a three-way passing play. Dahlin was thus unable to get back to help down low as Barkov fed Bennett just to the left of goalie Dustin Tokarski for the winning goal that sent the crowd of 17,728 into a frenzy.
"The game went back and forth, and not the end that I wanted and not the end that the team wanted either," Dahlin said. "It's my bad and I can't do that. It's a tough game. Good team. We battled all the way to the end."
"We want the other team's best way because it's the only way for us to grow," coach Don Granato said. "And, unfortunately, there's a component of development that you need hardship."
The game ended with a scrum as Dahlin had to be restrained by several players from going after Bennett, who cross-checked the Buffalo defenseman at the horn.
"I guess it started last game, when I accidentally hit him in his face with my elbow, and since then, he's been kind of freaking out," Dahlin said. "But it's hockey. It's a part of it. And I'd probably be (mad) too if I get an elbow in my face. Life goes on."
"I love the compete in our guys. I love the feistiness in our guys," Granato said. "Our guys believe they can win games. That's a big turnaround. That's a top team and our guys fully believe and expect to win a game."
The Sabres got first-period goals from Victor Olofsson, Mark Pysyk and Jeff Skinner to build their lead. But playing the second game of a back-to-back, they were outshot 30-10 over the final two periods.
Here are some other observations on the game:
1. History lesson
Jeff Skinner's goal at 15:35 of the first period, a nifty backhand off a Tage Thompson feed, put the Sabres into their two-goal lead and was his 30th of the season. That makes Skinner and Thompson the first Buffalo duo to hit the 30-goal mark since Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford did it during the 2010-11 season, Buffalo's last playoff campaign.
It's the fifth 30-goal season of Skinner's career. He had combined for just 21 goals the last two years, including a career-low seven in 53 games last season.
"I guess it's a story because that's my job, to produce offensively," Skinner said. "But for me, I think you look at it, I'm trying to help the team win, and just that's part of my role. You score goals to try and win games.
2. In the nets
The Panthers outshot Buffalo 43-22, and Tokarski took the loss despite making 39 saves. He fell to 7-11-5 on the season.
Patric Hornqvist's second-period goal that cut the Buffalo lead to 3-2 was not a good one. Tokarski was on his knees and not hugging the post, allowing the Florida forward to bank the puck off Tokarki's back and into the net. But Tokarski was otherwise strong and made several notable saves, topped by one on a third-period breakaway by Anton Lundell when the Panthers were short-handed.
3. Numbers games
The Panthers swept the season series from the Sabres, scoring 22 goals while winning each of the four games in regulation. The second-period blues bugged Buffalo against Florida all season. The Panthers outscored the Sabres 12-1 in the middle period of the four meetings and had 79 shots on goal against Buffalo in them. That's nearly 20 a game.
"The first (period) was what we needed to do," Granato said. "We were aggressive, assertive, the pace of the game was unbelievable. Then I think a little naivety, we thought we would start slinging pucks around and playing a little carefree, and we chased the game in the second period."
4. Next
The Sabres headed to Tampa after the game and they will be off on Saturday. They meet the Lightning Sunday afternoon at 5 before heading to Toronto to meet the Leafs on Tuesday night.
