Sam Reinhart gave the Florida Panthers exactly what they needed Monday afternoon: a jolt on the power play, a pair of goals, and a reminder of how dangerous he can be against his old team.
But Buffalo had the final answer.
The Sabres scored twice in the third period to pull away for a 5-3 win, handing Florida its second straight regulation loss and dropping the Panthers to 2-2-2. Reinhart scored both of Florida’s power-play goals and tied the game twice, but Buffalo never trailed and finished stronger.
The Panthers entered the game with the NHL’s least effective power play, having managed just one goal on 28 chances. Reinhart helped change that early, striking for his first goals of the season in the second period and going 2-for-2 on the man advantage.
That wasn’t enough to overcome Buffalo’s response at key moments.
Florida fell behind 2-1 after the opening period, and starter Jacob Markstrom did not return after stopping nine of 11 shots in the first 20 minutes. Akira Schmid took over to begin the second and finished the game, while Markstrom did not come back to the bench with what appeared to be an injury.
Buffalo also changed goalies, though for a different reason. After Reinhart’s first goal made it 2-2, Colten Ellis was pulled.
The game was tied 3-3 going into the third before the Sabres took control. Noah Ostlund scored on the power play to put Buffalo ahead for good, and Tage Thompson later added the insurance goal off the rush.
Josh Doan opened the scoring 5:52 into the first period, burying a shot from the right circle after a turnover in the Florida offensive zone led to a breakaway. Anton Lundell answered at 10:12, collecting a loose puck off an Aaron Ekblad shot for his first goal of the season. Rasmus Dahlin then restored Buffalo’s lead with a power-play blast from the top of the slot at 15:55.
Reinhart went to work in the second. At 6:26, he tapped in a Seth Jones point shot that slipped through Ellis’s skates, and Buffalo immediately went to Schmid in net.
Ryan McLeod put the Sabres back in front at 11:21, sweeping in a drive to make it 3-2. But Reinhart struck again at 13:41, finishing a slick between-the-skates feed from Brady Tkachuk to even things at 3-3.
In the third, Ostlund scored from down low at 7:15, and Thompson buried a wrist shot from the slot at 13:20 to close it out.
Reinhart’s two-goal outing also carried a place in the Panthers’ record book. With his pair of power-play tallies, he became Florida’s all-time leader with 85 power-play goals in 389 games, passing Sasha Barkov, who has 84 in 806 games.
Against the Sabres since being traded to Florida in 2022, Reinhart now has eight goals and 22 points in 19 games. That’s his highest point-per-game mark against any opponent other than Columbus, where he has 14 goals and 39 points in 30 games.
The two-goal game also pushed Reinhart into a tie with Pavel Bure and Olli Jokinen for second on the franchise’s multi-goal game list with 32. Barkov leads with 33.
Florida defenseman Radko Gudas left briefly in the second period after Buffalo forward Beck Malenstyn hit his right leg, but he was back for the start of the third.
The Panthers head to Columbus next, facing the Blue Jackets on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. at Nationwide Arena.
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