In Sunrise, Sam Reinhart scored his 55th goal of the season with 62 seconds left in extra time to send the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. 
“There was a task ahead today and we got it done. And we’re excited about the challenge ahead,” Reinhart, said. “It starts for real pretty soon. You do what you can to get home-ice advantage and that’s the beauty of the playoffs; it’s a battle in Game 1. We’re looking forward to it.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in the win.
The Panthers moved to 51-24-6 off their third straight win.
“We played for the win, building for the playoffs, and it was a good win for us,” Bobrovsky said. “We’re not going to look ahead too much. We had a good game tonight, we get a good two points and we move on.”
All the regulation scoring was done in the opening stanza.
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead on a marker from Tyson Jost at 2:59, scoring off a deflection of a shot from the point.
The Panthers responded with a strike by Anton Lundell at 5:02 for a 1-1 tie. He scored off a shot through a tangle of sticks and legs .
The Sabres dropped to 38-37-6.
“It was a hotly-contested game,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We had some opportunities, even in overtime. … We were not as sharp, and the consequence was we weren’t as sharp with the puck and had to defend more. But we defended well, and that was key.”
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead at 8:11, Kevin Stenlund scored a shorthanded goal after forcing a turnover.
“If it makes more sense to rest (players), we’ll do it … If we get the chance to compete for something, we’re going to compete for it,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.
Buffalo tied it, 2-2, on a power play marker form Jack Quinn at 9:48.
“Those were huge kills and it would have been nice to win after those,” Sabres defenseman Owen Power said. “It is what it is. Obviously, we didn’t come out with it.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves in the loss.
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