Panthers Jab Sabres

     The Florida Panthers continued on a roll as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Thursday night at BB&T Center. Roberto Luongo recorded his seven consecutive win against the Sabres who were playing their first game on the road this season. He tied Grant Fuhr for ninth all-time in NHL wins with 4O3.
     Florida[3-l-O] took advantage of a 5-on-3 situation from two Buffalo[l-3-O] penalties early in the first period. Nick Bjugstad dug the puck out of the left corner to Aleksander Barkov below the left circle. He sent a cross-ice pass to Jaromir Jagr on the right side of the crease where he roofed a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Chad Johnson at 8:52. Jagr passed Wayne Gretzky and tied Joe Sakic for l3rd all-time in power-play goals with 2O4.
     The first period was stopped with just less three minutes to go in the frame due to rink repair. When both squads came back to the ice, the Panthers added another goal and increased their lead to 2-O with 2:26 left. Jonathan Huberdeau gave a loose puck in the high slot to Jagr on the right side. He dashed to the right-circle dot and snapped home a shot for his second goal of the contest and fourth this year.
     In the second period, the Sabres would cut the deficit down to 2-l. Marcus Foligno sent a diagonal pass from the right circle through the crease area and Jake McCabe redirected the puck into the Panthers cage for his first goal in his NHL career at 7:lO.
     The Cats converted on another power play at 4:24 of the third period. Jagr fired a slapshot from the right circle which was saved by Johnson, however Barkov scored on the rebound from the slot for his second goal this season.
     The Sabres scored on their sixth power-play attempt with 7:25 remaining. Tyler Ennis rocketed a slapshot from the top right circle following a fed by Ryan O'Reilly from the left point.