Panthers coach Pete DeBoer looks like a man who is running out of answers.

With his team down two goals, he pulled his goalie. With the team down three, he benched one of the team's highest-paid defensemen.

But nothing DeBoer tried was successful -- at least Wednesday. That's usually what happens when your team gives up five goals in the first period of a game.

Florida kept Buffalo off the scoreboard for the final two periods, but by then it was too late as the Sabres got all they needed in the opening 20 minutes to defeat the Panthers 5-2 at Bank- Atlantic Center.

"We weren't ready to play," DeBoer said. "Sometimes those things work, sometimes they don't.

"Obviously this time they didn't," DeBoer said. "We went in eyes wide open. We knew what to expect and weren't ready. That's inexcusable."

PULLED EARLY

DeBoer pulled starting goalie Scott Clemmensen less than two minutes into the game after he surrendered two goals on three shots.

Tomas Vokoun didn't fare much better as the Sabres scored three more goals in the first. The Panthers got a Steve Reinprecht goal with 5:49 left in the first, but by then Florida was down 4-1.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Clemmensen's stint was the shortest for a Florida goaltender in franchise history.

"It's the fastest I've ever been pulled," said Clemmensen, who avoided the loss when Rostislav Olesz scored Florida's second goal with just more than two minutes left in the game.

"I'm not going to let it bother me. I'm old enough to have the right philosophy and have learned enough. There's not much you can do about it."

DeBoer said he pulled Clemmensen not because of his goalie's play, but because of the lackluster team in front of him.

The Panthers can't say they weren't well rested; not only had the team not played since beating Philadelphia last Friday, but DeBoer gave the players a rare two consecutive days off over the weekend. Still, the Panthers didn't seem to come at goalie Ryan Miller until they were in a 3-0 hole.

Defenseman Keith Ballard was benched after nine shifts and fewer than four minutes of play in the first period.

He sat through the entire second period and returned to play eight shifts in the third.

"There were various things," DeBoer said. "We need him to be better and he's not alone. He's got to be a whole lot better for us."

The Panthers are off to a woeful 2-5 start, with the team being outscored 24-12 during a six-game run where they have won just one game.

And the schedule only gets tougher this weekend. The Panthers visit defending Stanley Cup champion

Pittsburgh (8-1-0) on Friday, then move east to visit Philadelphia (3-2-1) on Saturday.

With the score 4-1, Buffalo ended whatever momentum the Panthers may have had with 3:12 left when Thomas Vanek made it 5-1 when his skate knocked the puck past a prone Vokoun. The play went to Hockey Central in Toronto for review but was upheld.

SHIFTING LINES

Florida played much better in the second period as DeBoer changed up his lines moving Nathan Horton to what could be called a second line and switching third- and fourth-line centers Moore and Gregory Campbell.

"Hey, we don't have a first or second line right now," DeBoer said grimly.

Moments later, Horton and Patrick Kaleta took unsportsmanlike penalties after jostling. After leaving the box, Horton came up to Kaleta and hit him square with a right hook to the face. Horton took a 10 minute misconduct.

DeBoer, who was pictured on the bench nodding as Horton headed to the showers, can only hope this wakes his team up before the season slips away.

"I don't know if I approved of it," he said. ‘‘But you want guys to be upset about it. It's better than them laughing on the bench or being light-hearted about it. Guys are upset.

"We have to channel that into our play."

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