In Sunrise, Matthew Tkachuk scored 59 seconds into the third period to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead on the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night.
Alex Lyon, who made 39 saves, preserved the lead for the 2-1 win.
“A lot of credit goes to the [defensemen] because not all 40-shot games are equal,” said Lyon. “We did as good a job as I have seen. They made my life simple and kept me in it after a rough start. I was happy to bounce back, and we just have to keep moving forward. But that said, we don’t have the time to really think about it too much.”
The victory vaulted the Panthers into a tie for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference with the New York Islanders.
“I think it is just easier playing with the lead, so getting that second goal, giving ourselves a lead was huge for us,” Tkachuk said. “It was pretty even and just back-and-forth. Both goalies were great. We capitalized on strong, hard plays in the third and Lyon made some big saves.”
The Sabres dropped to 37-32-7 and trail the Panthers and Isles by six points.
“Someone just mentioned to me we had nine guys in the lineup under 23 compared to one under 23 [for the Panthers],” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “So, there’s a difference there. And for our guys, they just have to go through it. And I think they’re better for it.
“I know they’re ultracompetitive. You can’t hang your head, you got to move right on. That was disappointing tonight, but I still fully believe we have a chance and I think our guys do. And there’s more meaningful games ahead, starting with Thursday [at the Detroit Red Wings]. We move on to that quick but take some experience from this one, without question.”
Dylan Cozens scored off the power play near the midway point of the first period to stake the Sabres to a 1-0 lead.
“Yeah, it’s a tough one,” Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. “You could feel the magnitude of the game throughout the whole thing. They just scored one more goal than we did. I mean, it was tight the whole way. It wasn’t a whole lot of breakdowns when we tried to press at the end, but yeah, it’s a tough one.”
Aaron Ekblad tied the game up, 1-1, in the second period off a power play cahnce for the Panthers.
“I thought there was good compete,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Both teams had tension on them, and you could feel it in how they moved the puck. You had the third- and fifth-highest scoring teams in the League playing goalies who are third and fourth on their depth charts and two of the best players on the ice were the goalies. It was a goalie duel. Both guys made big saves, scrambled and found pucks.”
Devon Levi made 34 saves in the Sabres loss.
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