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Devon Levi — playing against the franchise that drafted him — made 23 saves to lead the host Buffalo Sabres to their first win of the season, a 5-2 victory against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Buffalo had lost its first three games this season, scoring just one goal in each contest.
On Saturday, they got goals from Jordan Greenway, Tage Thompson, Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch (empty-netter).
Buffalo, which has the youngest team in the NHL at 25.4 years, broke a five-game skid in its rivalry with the Panthers.
Florida got goals from Nate Schmidt and Sam Bennett. Florida had gone 0 or 9 on its power play this season until the goal by Bennett.
The Panthers, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, played without three of their biggest stars. Center Aleksander Barkov, hurt in Florida’s previous game, is expected to miss two to three weeks due to a leg injury. Matthew Tkachuk was out due to an illness, and starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was rested.
Spencer Knight, playing his first NHL game since Feb. 18, 2023, made 22 saves.
Levi, who was Florida’s seventh-round pick in 2020, was traded to Buffalo in July 2021. In return, the Panthers got Sam Reinhart, who last season finished second in the NHL with 57 goals.
Florida opened the scoring with 9:01 expired in the first period as A.J. Greer passed to a trailing Schmidt, a veteran defenseman who scored from the high slot. It was Schmidt’s first goal as a member of the Panthers, a team he joined in July.
Buffalo, which outhit Florida 10-4 in the first period, fought back with two goals in the opening 20 minutes.
First, with 3:14 left in the period, Greenway battled to keep possession before chipping in a backhander. The puck bounced twice before Greenway scored from close range.
Then, 41 seconds later, Thompson scored on the rush, beating Knight with a wrist shot. Passes from Connor Clifton and Tuch allowed Thompson to get open.
The Sabres made it 3-1 early in the second period. In a span of 24 seconds, Buffalo had five shot attempts, including Jokiharju’s goal from above the left circle after a pass from Rasmus Dahlin.
With 3:38 left in the second, Buffalo extended its lead to 4-1 as Samuelsson scored from the left circle as Knight was laying on his backside. It was just the fourth goal in Samuelsson’s 154 career games.
The Panthers closed their deficit to 4-2 on Bennett’s power-play goal with 78 seconds left in the second. Bennett tipped in a shot by Reinhart.
But Tuch’s empty-netter with 72 seconds left iced the game.
Earlier Saturday, Panthers coach Paul Maurice announced the timeline on Barkov.
Barkov was injured while attempting to prevent an empty-net goal in the waning moments of Florida’s 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. The forward crashed feet-first into the end boards.
The timeline set by Maurice would put Barkov on target to play in his native Finland when the Panthers face the Dallas Stars in the NHL Global Series on Nov. 1-2.
“We think two to three weeks. We think that’s probably the right window on him,” Maurice said. “He’s a strong healer. He’s just a big powerful man, puts a lot of torque on his joints. We’re optimistic, I think very optimistic, that he’ll play in Finland.”
Barkov, 29, was voted the Selke Trophy winner as the best defensive forward last season. He also received the honor for the 2020-21 season.
Barkov has one point — an assist — in two games this season.
He is the franchise leader in several categories, including goals (266), assists (446), points (712) and game-winning goals (48). He was selected by the Panthers with the second overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft.
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