Panthers hopeful Lundell’s injury ‘not serious’ after awkward fall in rout of Sabres
The Florida Panthers’ 6-1 rout of the Buffalo Sabres on Monday was one type of homecoming celebration for Brandon Montour and Sam Reinhart, who combined for three points in their return to Western New York, and another for Spencer Knight in his long-awaited return to the NHL.
The only thing to slow down the good vibes was a scary fall for Anton Lundell in the first period. Although the rookie center took an awkward fall and went feet first into the boards behind the Sabres’ net, Andrew Brunette is optimistic the lower-body injury it won’t keep Lundell out for too long.
“I have no idea. I’m not a doctor, so it’s kind of tough to evaluate,” the coach said and then offered up one hopeful tidbit. “I think it’s not serious, but we’ll see.”
Other than the injury and a shaky first period, it was the sort of night the Panthers (38-13-5) expected of themselves against one of the worst teams in the league.
Florida never trailed, turned a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period into a 5-0 rout by the end of the second and nearly put together a shutout in Buffalo to climb back into first place in the Atlantic Division, albeit with one more game played than the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Montour scored the first goal in the first period — on the Panthers’ first shot on goal — and added an assist in the second to give Florida a 2-0 lead. Reinhart added another assist on a power-play goal later in the period to put the Panthers ahead 3-0. Knight, who was playing in the NHL for the first time since January after spending more than a month in the American Hockey League, came 6:18 away from his first career shutout before he gave up a deflection goal in the third.
It was about as eventful as a blowout win in front of 7,906 at the KeyBank Center could’ve been.
“It’s good to see some good faces. It’s a little different playing against them, but it’s hockey,” said Montour, who, along with Reinhart, was traded from the Sabres to Florida last year. “Once it gets to game time, it’s all the same. It was good to get that one early.”
It was about the only thing to go right on offense for the Panthers in the first. Buffalo (18-32-8) outshot Florida, 11-3, in the opening period, yet the Panthers led 1-0 at the first intermission because of Montour’s goal and stout play by Knight.
The rookie finished with 29 saves and began the game with 26 straight before giving up a third-period goal with Florida already ahead 6-0.
“He played unreal,” said winger Anthony Duclair, who scored during the Panthers’ four-goal second period. “I’m happy to see him back, for sure.”
It was Knight’s first start in the NHL since the first day of February and, statistically, one of the best of his career — a majorly positive sign, considering how much of his season has gone.
Knight began the year with serious Calder Memorial Trophy aspirations and wound up shunted into a reserve role as fellow goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky put together a resurgent first half. In his limited playing time, Knight, who became the youngest goaltender in league history to win his postseason debut last year after Bobrovsky got benched, had a rocky first half, posting an .898 save percentage and 3.23 goals against average.
The 20-year-old’s underwhelming first half, along with Bobrovsky’s return to form, meant Brunette struggled to find opportunities to get Knight playing time, so the Panthers loaned the goalie to AHL Charlotte last month, ahead of the 2022 NHL All-Star Game.
Knight made eight starts for the Charlotte Checkers, and recaptured his form by getting regular playing time against minor-league competition. He posted a .924 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average before Florida recalled him Sunday to start the front end of a back-to-back set Monday.
At least for one night, the month-long trip to the minors seemed to benefit Knight and what benefits Knight will also benefit the Panthers once they get to the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.
“At his age, I think to play is probably the most important thing,” Brunette said, “and it’s good for a young player to kind of earn it a little bit, to battle through. And the American League’s not always fun and he went with a great attitude, and he had some great help down there and we know how good he is. He’s as good of a goalie as I’ve seen at his age and we’re just making sure we develop him the right way.”
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Up next
On Tuesday, Florida will play on back-to-back nights for the first time in more than a month when it wraps up a quick two-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Bobrovsky will likely get the start in net against the Penguins (34-14-9) in Pittsburgh. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 9:34 PM.
