Panthers scratch out a win against Sabres

This time, Jonathan Huberdeau had the highlight-reel goal.

One game after Aleksander Barkov had a goal for the ages, Huberdeau scored twice as the the Panthers rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Tuesday night at BB&T Center.

Trailing 1-0 in the third period, Huberdeau, Jayce Hawryluk and Barkov scored 2:35 apart to get things going.

Huberdeau then scored again, this one a spectacular goal with 3:15 left in the third, deking All-Star Jeff Skinner and then making another move, this one on Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark.

Panthers goalie James Reimer made 32 saves and won his third start in a row, and that coincides with Florida’s three-game win streak.

Buffalo got an early goal from Jack Eichel, his 19th of the season and his first in 14 career games against the Panthers. Buffalo’s Vladimir Sobotka scored with eight seconds left and the game virtually decided.

Ullmark, who made 37 saves, was working on a possible shutout before giving up that barrage of goals in the third.

The Sabres have lost three games in a row and have been slipping ever since their 10-game win streak was snapped on Nov. 29. Since that date, the Sabres are 11-18-5.

Barkov’s goal was his 23rd of the season, and he added two assists. Barkov, who has seven points in his past six periods, leads the Panthers with 60 points this season.

Buffalo was victimized by Florida’s top line of Barkov, Huberdeau and Frank Vatrano. They combined for eight points on the night, all in the third period.

Neither team scored during a first-period in which Florida had 12 of the 18 shots on goal. However, the Panthers went 0 for 2 on their power play.

Buffalo opened the scoring on a power-play goal with 5:19 expired in the second period. Eichel took a perfect pass from Sam Reinhart and scored from point-blank range on a redirection. The goal was set up when Vatrano was called for holding Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen.

The Panthers tied the score with 3:07 gone in the third period as Vatrano’s pass freed Huberdeau for a breakaway. Huberdeau then slipped the puck in between Ullmark’s pads.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead just 43 seconds later. Vincent Trocheck’s shot hit the right post, and the puck bounced out and then back in off the body of a charging Hawryluk. The Sabres challenged the call, but the goal stood.

Barkov’s goal with 5:42 expired in the third period gave the Panthers a 3-1 advantage.

Eichel appeared to score again, this time with 12:53 gone in the third. But the Panthers won a video challenge when it was ruled that the Sabres were offsides.

Immediately following the review, the Panthers killed off a penalty, and Huberdeau’s goal iced Florida’s victory.

▪ Skinner, who had scored four goals in three previous games against the Panthers this season, was finally shut down. It was the first time this season the Panthers had held Skinner without a goal.

Still, in his past nine games against the Panthers, Skinner has scored eight goals and has added three assists.

Skinner started the night tied for second in the NHL with 36 goals.

▪ Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson left the ice during the first period because of a lower-body injury. He did not return.

▪ Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, who was on the bereavement list for the previous game due to a death in the family, returned to the roster as Reimer’s backup.

▪ Barkov’s between-the-legs goal was “SportsCenter’s” Play of the Night on Sunday.

▪ Barkov drew two more penalties on Tuesday. He leads the NHL in the margin between penalties drawn and penalties taken.

▪ The Panthers released fourth-line forward Micheal Haley, a 32-year-old enforcer who was on the final season of his contract.

▪ Florida’s Keith Yandle leads all NHL defensemen with 28 power-play points.

▪ The last time the Panthers had five 20-goal scorers was in 2015-2016. They have four 20-goal scorers already this season, and Huberdeau (14 goals, including one on Tuesday) could get there with a hot finish.