Sam Reinhart Scores Twice, but Sabres Beat Panthers 5-3 in Buffalo as Jacob Markstrom Is Pulled

Sam Reinhart scored his first two goals of the season against the team that drafted him, but the Florida Panthers lost to the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Monday afternoon at KeyBank Center. Noah Ostlund broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal 7:15 into the third period, and Tage Thompson added insurance as Florida dropped its second straight game and its fourth in five.

The Panthers are 2-2-2 heading into a quick turnaround at Columbus on Tuesday night. Buffalo improved to 3-3-0. The game, a 1 p.m. start on Columbus Day, drew 19,070.

How the goals came

Buffalo never trailed. Josh Doan opened the scoring at 5:58 of the first period with his first goal of the season. Anton Lundell answered at 11:00, finishing a play set up by Aaron Ekblad and Sandis Vilmanis, but Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin put Buffalo back in front with a power-play slap shot at 15:55.

Reinhart tied it 2-2 on a power play at 6:26 of the second, poking in a loose puck that had dribbled into the crease behind Sabres starter Colten Ellis, according to the Associated Press recap on ESPN. Seth Jones and Matthew Tkachuk drew the assists. Ryan McLeod restored Buffalo's lead at 11:25, and Reinhart answered again on the power play at 13:41, finishing what NHL.com described as a between-the-legs backhand pass from Brady Tkachuk at the far side of the net.

The tie lasted until midway through the third. With Florida short-handed, Ostlund tapped in a pass through the crease from Zach Benson at 7:15 for the winner. Thompson scored at 13:20 to make it 5-3.

Here is how the scoring unfolded, according to the ESPN box score.

Markstrom pulled after one period

Jacob Markstrom started in goal for Florida and allowed two goals on 11 shots in the first period. He did not return. Coach Paul Maurice told reporters the goaltender had felt something tighten, and he played down any injury. "He just tightened up, and so we pulled him," Maurice said, according to NHL.com. In the AP recap, Maurice was quoted as saying, "There's no injury there."

Akira Schmid played the final two periods and stopped 18 of 21 shots. Buffalo made a goaltending change of its own: Ellis was pulled after Reinhart's first goal, having allowed two goals on nine shots, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 13 saves on 14 shots the rest of the way for the win.

Buffalo outshot Florida 32-23. The Panthers, as usual, won the physical count by a wide margin, outhitting the Sabres 42-14.

A first point for Brady Tkachuk

The assist on Reinhart's second goal was Brady Tkachuk's first point in six games with Florida since the Panthers acquired him from the Ottawa Senators in a June 23 trade. The former Senators captain, now playing alongside his brother Matthew, was credited with seven hits and three shots in 16 minutes, 32 seconds of ice time.

Reinhart, who began his NHL career with Buffalo before a 2021 trade to Florida, played 20:27 and won seven of nine faceoffs. Both of his goals came with the man advantage. Seth Jones assisted on both and logged a team-high 23:55, and Lundell's goal was his first of the season.

Special teams show signs of life

The power play had been a problem for Florida through the first week of the season. The Panthers entered the game 1 for 28 with the man advantage and went 2 for 4 in Buffalo, according to the AP. The Sabres had their own power-play slump, opening the season 1 for 17, and converted two of five chances on Monday, including the game winner.

Both teams lost key players. Dahlin was hurt by a slap shot early in the second period and did not return after playing 9:06. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff called him day to day and said he would not initially travel with the team for its three-game road trip, which starts Tuesday in Montreal. "He doesn't have to get on an airplane right now," Ruff said, according to NHL.com.

Buffalo, which had lost its previous two games, spread the offense around. Thompson had a goal and an assist, and Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Owen Power each had two assists. Olen Zellweger led the Sabres with six shots, and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson led all skaters with 26:59 of ice time, according to NHL.com.

A depleted Panthers lineup

Florida is without its captain, Aleksander Barkov, who has been ruled out for six to eight weeks. Brad Marchand left the Panthers' Oct. 6 win over the Los Angeles Kings with a left leg injury, and Maurice later said Marchand would be out of game action for about six weeks, according to published reports.

The results since have been uneven. After opening with a 1-0 win at Carolina, Florida picked up points in one-goal losses past regulation at San Jose and Anaheim, beat Los Angeles 2-1, lost its home opener 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and then fell in Buffalo. That is one win in the last five games.

What's next

The Panthers play the back half of a back-to-back on Tuesday at Columbus, with the puck scheduled to drop at 6:15 p.m. ET, before returning to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise for home games against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. With Markstrom's tightness the newest question for a team already missing Barkov and Marchand, the goaltending decision for Columbus is the first thing to watch.