The Florida Panthers are heating up as many in the Eastern Conference are cooling off.
On Friday night, the Panthers won their fifth straight with a 4-1 decision over the Buffalo Sabres in Sunrise.
James Reimer made 24 saves for the win.
“It’s nice for me as a coach when you see guys get on rolls and the team gets on a roll,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “It’s an easy buy-in. They understand the way we need to play to be successful. I think now they are reaping the rewards. They go into every game and know how important it is and expect to win. That’s a great identity.”
Florida improved to 31-26-6 with the win and are one point back of the second wild card spot in the east.
“Our entire lineup has been contributing and that’s been the big difference,” Nick Bjugstad said. “You know, we are having a heck of a run here and we got to keep it going. We can’t stop here.”
Aaron Ekblad, Mike Matheson, Aleksander Barkov and Colton Sceviour had the Panthers’ strikes in the win.
“I think that’s what it takes to be able to get yourself into the playoffs and then have success in the playoffs,” Matheson said. “You can’t rely on the same two players or the same two lines every single night. You need contributions from everyone.”
Sam Reinhart scored the lone Sabres goal in the loss.
“We knew we had to get on a run like this. Obviously, the way we started wasn’t ideal, but anything can happen at the end of the year. A spark has been lit here and we’re meshing well. There’s no stopping here, we still have a lot of games to play and we can’t rely on other teams to help us out. It’s got to be us,” Bjugstad said after the win.
[WATCH: All Sabres vs. Panthers highlights]
Robin Lehner, who should sue for non-support, made 26 saves in the loss.
“I thought we had our opportunities at key times in the game and they capitalized on theirs and we didn’t,” Sabres head coach Phil Housley said. “The game’s 2-1 and we’re getting really good looks there; 2-on-1s, odd-man rushes, and really some opportunities to make a difference and we weren’t opportunistic at that time and I think that’s where the game stood.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.