Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists and Mason Marchment produced three assists as the Florida Panthers rolled to a 6-1 win over the host Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
The Panthers are on a three-game winning streak, and the latest victory moved Florida into first place in the Atlantic Division.
Brandon Montour and Anthony Duclair each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Noel Acciari, Carter Verhaeghe, and Patric Hornqvist scored Florida's other goals.
John Hayden had Buffalo's goal. The Sabres were only outshot by a 31-30 margin, but went scoreless on five power-play opportunities.
The third-period score from Hayden spoiled Spencer Knight's bid for his first NHL shutout. Called up from the AHL on Sunday to make his first NHL appearance since Feb. 1, Knight stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn his 10th win of the season.
Marchment has 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) over his past 14 games. The forward has reached or surpassed the three-point threshold in four of those contests.
Barkov has also been red hot, with seven multi-point performances over his past 10 games. Barkov has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) over that 10-game span.
Duclair and Barkov each scored on the power play, giving the Panthers two power-play goals in each of their last four games.
Florida had only three shots on goal in the first period, but it was still enough to forge a lead when Montour collected his sixth goal of the season. The defenseman was playing his first game in Buffalo since being traded from the Sabres to the Panthers last April.
That slow opening period gave way to a scoring outburst in the second frame. The Panthers had 20 shots in the second period and scored four goals within a seven-minute stretch.
The Panthers' one concern coming out of the evening was the status of Anton Lundell, who left the game in the first period after sustaining a lower-body injury. The rookie has been an immediate contributor, tallying 14 goals and 24 assists over his first 52 NHL games.
Sabres goalie Craig Anderson allowed six goals on 31 shots, receiving little help from his defense against the high-powered Florida attack.
--Field Level Media
Florida | Buffalo | |
Aleksander Barkov 3 | Points | John Hayden 1 |
Aleksander Barkov 1 | Goals | John Hayden 1 |
Mason Marchment 3 | Assists | Rasmus Asplund 1 |
Aleksander Barkov 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Spencer Knight .967 | Save Percentage | Craig Anderson .806 |
Spencer Knight 29 | Saves | Craig Anderson 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Florida | 31 | 6 | 2-3 | 5-5 | 12 | 26 |
Buffalo | 30 | 1 | 0-5 | 1-3 | 18 | 29 |