BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jordan Greenway and Tage Thompson scored 41 seconds apart in the first period, and the Buffalo Sabers ended a season-opening three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night .

Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch also scored on an empty-net goal for the Sabres, who combined for three goals in their first three games. Lindy Ruff won his first game in his second tenure as Sabers coach, 4,257 days after his last win with Buffalo – a 4-2 decision over Boston on Feb. 15, 2013.

Sam Bennett and Nate Schmidt scored for the Panthers, who have suffered two straight losses since their season-opening win over Boston.

Panthers goalie Spencer Knight stopped 22 shots in his first start since a 6-2 loss to St. Louis on Feb. 14, 2023. He then entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program to help deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder and spent the final shooting season in the minors.

Takeaways

Panthers: The reigning Stanley Cup champions lacked impact while playing without captain Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness). Knight needs to be sharper, especially on Thompson’s go-ahead goal, which hit him through his legs from 25 feet.

Sabres: Buffalo avoids the franchise’s first 0-4 start and improves to 2-9-1 in its last 12 games against Florida. The power play finished 0-for-3, dropping to 0-for-14 on the season.

Key moment

Sabers goalie Devon Levi stopped Sam Reinhart’s shot on a 4-on-2 break 32 seconds into the second period. Jokiharju gave Buffalo a 3-1 lead 66 seconds later.

Key statistics

738-682 – Number of career losses for Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who has the most on the NHL list, compared to Ruff, who ranks second. Maurice is in fourth place with 870 wins and Ruff is in fifth place with 865.

Next

The Panthers play the third of a four-game road trip in Columbus on Monday night. The Sabers open a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl