Feb 2, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Peyton Krebs (19) celebrates after scoring against the Florida Panthers during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Score: Sabres 5 | Panthers 3

Shots: BUF 20 | FLA 41

Buffalo Sabres Goals:

Thompson (Krebs, Dahlin)

Krebs (Dahlin, Tuch)

Benson (McLeod, Power)

Zucker (Doan, Quinn) (PP)

Doan (Krebs, McLeod)

Florida Panthers Goals:

Bilmanis (Greer, Mikkola)

Rodrigues (Reinhart, Bjornfot)

Balinskis (Reinhart, Verhaeghe) (PP)

Final Thoughts

A week after delivering a decisive blow to the Leafs’ playoff hopes, Buffalo struck again against an Atlantic Division rival chasing them. This victory drops the Panthers to 10 points behind the Sabres and 9 points behind the Bruins for the final wild card spot.

The game did not start well for the visitors. Florida took the lead within the first minute and had a two-goal lead six minutes in. Buffalo though was able to regroup, battle back, and enter the third period with an even score.

Thanks to some excellent goaltending from Alex Lyon, the Sabres were then able to stave off Florida’s barrage of shots and eventually cashed in when they needed to.

Peyton Krebs had a phenomenal game. He looked a step faster than usual and was a force on every shift. His backdoor pass to Josh Doan to ice the game late in the third was one of the best plays he’s made as a Sabre.

Unfortunately, Zach Benson was hurt after being hauled down on a breakaway. Ruff said he will be evaluated for an upper body injury. Hopefully, he’s not out long term even as heroically attempted to return for the next shift before leaving the ice.