Josh Doan netted his first goals with Buffalo by producing two power-play markers, goaltender Alex Lyon denied all 32 Florida shots, and the Sabres blanked the visiting Panthers 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Traded by the rebranded Utah Mammoth to Buffalo in late June, the 23-year-old Doan tallied in the first and second periods.
Owen Power also scored for the Sabres, who beat the Ottawa Senators 8-4 on Wednesday and were 2-for-4 on the power play Saturday while killing off all seven opposing man advantages.
A major contributor over a two-week span late with the Florida Panthers three seasons ago as they advanced to the playoffs, then to the Stanley Cup Final as the No. 8 seed, Lyon moved to 2-1-2 against his former team with his fifth career shutout.
Blanked for the first time this season, Florida’s offense continued its anemic production as the two-time Cup defending champions lost for the fourth straight time in regulation on a five-game road trip that will end Tuesday night at the Boston Bruins.
The Panthers have only four goals in the four setbacks, and their losing streak is the longest active skid in the Eastern Conference.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 28 stopped shots.
Buffalo’s Zach Benson and Bowen Byram committed first-period penalties, but the club, which had yielded just one power-play goal in 16 attempts entering the contest, was able to kill them off.
The Sabres spent just six seconds on their first power play after Uvis Balinskis went off for interference. Tage Thompson zipped a feed from the right circle, clipping Doan and banking in his first goal, at the 7:13 mark, for Buffalo.
In the second period, the match opened with plenty of four-on-four play. A feisty fight broke out with 9:20 remaining when Rasmus Dahlin dealt out a hard cross-check to Brad Marchand, and the two soon fought, leading to another Buffalo power play.
Doan potted his second goal on that man advantage by tapping in a pass from Jason Zucker at 11:12 to double the edge. Power made it 3-0 just 3:08 later off a crisp pass from Alex Tuch.
–Field Level Media
