Aleksander Barkov returns as Panthers blast Sabres

Aleksander Barkov celebrated his return to the lineup with a goal and an assist to help the visiting Florida Panthers to a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist for Florida, and Sam Bennett scored in his fifth straight game. He also added an assist. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the Panthers, who have won three straight.

Barkov, who missed the past eight games due to a lower-body injury, scored his first goal of the season.

Jason Zucker and Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for Buffalo, which had won three in a row.

Florida scored two goals on its first four shots on target.

Jesper Boqvist gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 11:01 of the first period. Anton Lundell entered the zone on a two-on-one, drew a defender toward him and passed to Boqvist, who scored from the low slot.

Reinhart made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 11:56. Barkov, skating behind the net, dished the puck to Reinhart, who was alone in front, and he beat Luukkonen for his seventh goal of the season.

Zucker pulled the Sabres within 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:45 of the second period. Tage Thompson sent a one-timer toward the net from the high slot, and Zucker batted it past Bobrovsky.

Dahlin tied the game at 2 soon after when he took a pass from Owen Power and skated down near the right circle while using his body to shield the puck before scoring from the low slot at 12:37.

The Panthers took a 3-2 lead at 16:44 when Verhaeghe knocked in the rebound of Matthew Tkachuk's shot off the rush.

Bennett made it 4-2 with a power-play goal at 14:35 of the third period. After Nate Schmidt blocked a clearing attempt, he traded passes with Bennett, who moved into the right circle and scored on a wrist shot.

Barkov scored on a wrist shot from the right circle at 15:43 for the 5-2 final.

--Field Level Media