Panthers Edge Sabres

    The Florida Panthers played their first home game in 12 days as they got by the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night 5-4 in a shootout at BB&T Center. The Cats snapped a three-game losing streak and have won three of their last six games.
    Florida(10-19-6) got on the scoreboard early at 3:28 of the first period. Left wing Jonathan Huberdeau got a loose puck in the right corner and sent it out to the right point. Defenseman Tyler Strachan took a slap shot that ended in the slot area and center Shawn Matthias delayed then fired a wrist shot by goalie Ryan Miller for a 1-0 lead.
    The Panthers added to their lead with a power-play goal 43 seconds into the second period. Defensman Brian Campbell passed the puck from the end wall to right wing Tomas Kopecky in the slot area. He spinned and backhanded it to left wing Tomas Fleischmann in the low right circle for the one-time slap shot. Fleischmann scored in his second consecutive game with his eighth goal this season.
    Buffalo(13-17-4) responded quickly at 1:36 to make it 2-1. Right wing Drew Stafford put a lead pass to center Tyler Ennis in the neutral zone as he charged into the Panthers zone. He dropped off the puck to left wing Nathan Gerbe and ripped a slap shot by goalie Jacob Markstrom from the top right circle.
    The Sabres tied the game on a bad turnover by the Panthers in their own zone. Defenseman Andrej Sekera came in from the top of the zone, got the loose puck and launched a slap shot from the high slot at 14:56.
    With 55.4 seconds in the second period, Buffalo took their first lead of the game. Defenseman Robyn Regehr moved the puck from the left point to the right point where defenseman Christian Ehrhoff shot the puck. Right wing Drew Stafford deflected it in the low slot for the goal.
    The Cats got a break on a bad turnover by Buffalo in their defensive zone. Right wing Peter Mueller found the loose puck in the slot and took the initial shot that Ryan saved then Matthias put in the rebound in the low left circle for his second goal of the game at 5:23 of the third period. He now has nine goals in his last 15 games and tied Kopecky and Huberdeau for the club-high with his 12th goal.
    Sabres left wing Marcus Foligno gave his team the lead with 11:33 to go in the third period as he deflected a shot from the slot after defenseman let go a slap shot from the right point.
    The Panthers tied it up at 4-4 on the power play at 13:51. Mueller was in the right corner and found Huberdeau in the low shot where he redirected the puck in with a snap shot for his club-high 13th goal this season.
    Neither team scored in overtime and the game was decided in a shootout. Right wing Jason Pominville made the first attempt for Buffalo but the next three players failed to score. Huberdeau got the puck in on the Panthers second attempt as it hit the left post and barely crossed the goal line. Right wing Mike Santorelli got the game-deciding goal on the Cats fourth attempt for the victory.
    Markstrom made 36 saves and rose  to 4-7-1 this season while Miller also made 36 saves and fell to 11-15-4. The Cats were 2-for-5 on the power play and the Sabres were 1-for-4 with the man advantage. The Panthers face their playoff rival from last season, the New Jersey Devils, on Saturday night in a rematch of the first round seven-game series.