Tkachuk, Lyon spark Panthers’ crucial victory against Sabres
One hero — Matthew Tkachuk — was expected.
The other hero — Alex Lyon — would have been a bit of a shock just last month.
Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal 59 seconds into the third period as the host Florida Panthers rallied for a crucial 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
Alex Lyon, Florida’s third-string goalie, made 40 saves for his fourth straight win. He has filled in for starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who has missed those four games due to a non-COVID illness. Lyon, 30, is 7-3-1 this season. For his career, he is 14-10-4.
Florida survived a wild final minute as Buffalo pulled its goalie. Then, with 13 seconds left, Aaron Ekblad was penalized for tripping, giving the Sabres a two-man advantage.
The win was huge for the Panthers, who passed the Pittsburgh Penguins (86 points) in the race for one of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins lost 5-1 to New Jersey on Tuesday.
Florida (40-31-7, 88 points) also created some space over Buffalo (37-32-7, 81 points).
Aside from Tkachuk, the Panthers got a goal from Ekblad and two assists from Brandon Montour. Both of them are defensemen.
Tkachuk’s goal was his 39th of the season. Tkachuk trails only Carter Verhaeghe (40) among Panthers goal-scorers. Tkachuk also has 103 points – one short of his career high.
Buffalo got a goal from Dylan Cozens, and Devon Levi made 34 saves.
Ironically, Levi, a 21-year-old from the suburbs of Montreal, was selected by the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2020 NHL Draft. One year later, he and a first-round pick were traded to Buffalo for forward Sam Reinhart.
On March 31, Levi made his NHL debut, defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, in overtime. This was his encore performance.
Buffalo scored on its first shot on goal, but Tuch’s tally was wiped out when Florida challenged for offsides. That turned out to be a wise move for the Panthers.
The Sabres officially got on the board with 8:58 gone in the first on Cozens’ power-play goal from above the right circle. Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson earned assists, and Tuch occupied two Panthers defenders in front of the net, leaving Cozens with plenty of room.
The penalty that helped set up that goal was high sticking by Eetu Luostarinen against Jack Quinn.
Florida tied the score 1-1 with 4:13 left in the first. Following an interference penalty on Buffalo’s Tyson Jost against Anton Lundell, the Panthers went to work. Ekblad took a pass from Montour and ripped a shot that bounced off the left post and off Levi before crossing the line.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the third period as Luostarinen had a steal to keep the puck in Buffalo’s end. Tkachuk then made a big hit to again retain possession. From there, Montour fired a shot from the point, and Tkachuk deflected the puck past Levi.
Lyon then stopped all 18 Sabres third-period shots.