Lundell breaks tie in 3rd, Panthers cool off red-hot Sabres

BUFFALO -- Anton Lundell scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the Florida Panthers cooled off the Buffalo Sabres with a 4-3 win at KeyBank Center on Monday.

A.J. Greer scored twice, Carter Verhaeghe had three assists, and Sam Bennett had two assists for the Panthers (24-18-3), who have won two straight after losing the first two games of their six-game road trip. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves.

“I thought we were fast all night, we were above pucks,” Florida forward Sam Reinhart said. “They’re a dangerous team, they’re going to make plays regardless. I thought we were on the right side, and that’s how our offense was created tonight.”

Jacob Bryson, Zach Benson and Alex Tuch scored, and Colten Ellis made 28 saves for the Sabres (24-16-4), who had won three in a row and lost for just the second time in 15 games.

Lindy Ruff coached in his 1,900th NHL game, becoming the third coach in NHL history to reach the mark.

“It was a hard game,” Ruff said. “It was a game where we were going to have to make them pay for their mistakes or they make us pay. ... But there wasn’t a lot of high-quality chances by either team, there was the odd mistake where a guy got away. I mean, we had [Tage Thompson] in alone, we had [Josh] Norris in alone, they had a couple guys in alone, but there wasn’t a lot of big mistakes inside the game.”

Lundell put Florida ahead 3-2 at 11:07 of the third period. Ellis couldn’t freeze the puck amid a scramble in the crease, and Lundell was able to find it at the side of the net and tuck it inside the right post.

Greer scored an empty-net goal at 18:46 to make it 4-2.

Tuch did cut it to 4-3 with 14 seconds remaining in regulation, batting in a rebound at the left side of the net with Ellis on the bench for the extra attacker. However, Buffalo wasn't able to get another shot off after being tied up on the ensuing face-off.

“I think we’ve been doing really good things lately and I just don’t think our compete was there tonight,” Benson said. “Obviously, you want to compete every night, but we’ve had a lot of compete lately and we just got to get back to it.”

Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:35 of the first period, deflecting Uvis Balinskis’ shot from the point.

Bryson tied it 1-1 at 10:19, snapping a shot from the left point through a heavily screened Bobrovsky.

Greer put the Panthers back in front 2-1 at 15:11, scoring with a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Ellis short side under his glove.

“He plays with [passion], he plays hard,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "... Analytically, that line (with Bennett and Verhaeghe), they just score when they’re together.”

Benson tied it again 2-2 at 17:57 of the second period. He won a battle with Aaron Ekblad at the right post and jammed in the rebound of Thompson's initial shot.

“Everyone’s going through it, especially in the [Eastern Conference],” Reinhart said. “You lose a couple, the world’s ending. You win a couple and you’re right back in it. Everything matters at this time of year. It seems like the fight is going to start a little earlier than normal, so these points are all big.”

NOTES: The only other coaches to have coached more games than Ruff are Maurice (1,975) and Scotty Bowman (2,141). ... Bobrovsky earned his 206th career road win, tying Ed Belfour for the third-most in NHL history. Martin Brodeur is first with 310, and Marc-Andre Fleury is second with 246. ... The Panthers were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and are 17-for-17 in their past five games. ... Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson left the game following Greer’s empty-net goal after he tripped over Thompson in the defensive zone and landed on his side. Ruff did not have an update after the game. ... Buffalo lost at home for the first time since Nov. 28 (seven games).