Panthers 1, Sabres 0
Roberto Luongo turned aside 26 shots for his 67th career shutout and Sean Bergenheim scored early in the second period as visiting Florida recorded its first victory in a matchup involving the initial two selections of the 2014 draft.
The active leader in shutouts, Luongo snapped a tie with Patrick Roy and pulled even with Roy Worters for 13th place on the NHL's all-time list. The 35-year-old, who preserved his first blanking of the season by making 14 saves in the third period, turned aside 25 shots in a 2-0 triumph over Buffalo in their last meeting on March 7.
Former Sabre Brad Boyes and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov each notched an assist for the Panthers, who have won four consecutive meetings with Buffalo - including three on the road. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was the first selection of the 2014 draft, registered one shot on goal while logging 20:28 of ice time.
After enjoying a 16-3 advantage in shots during the first period, Florida opened the scoring on its initial attempt of the second. With Boyes and Buffalo defenseman Andrej Meszaros battling for possession in the left corner, Bergenheim spotted the loose puck and quickly unleashed a shot from the faceoff dot that beat Jhonas Enroth between the pads at 3:01.
Enroth finished with 34 saves for the Sabres, who ventured eight rounds before posting a 4-3 shootout win at Carolina on Tuesday. Center Sam Reinhart, who was the second overall pick this past June, was held without a shot in 7:09 of ice time.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida RW Scottie Upshall skated into Enroth behind the net midway into the second period, causing tensions to rise between the struggling teams. Buffalo D Tyler Myers exacted a bit of retribution with a crushing body check on Upshall later in the session. ... Bergenheim's tally gave Florida just its second lead of the season. The Panthers enjoyed a 1-0 advantage against Tampa Bay on Oct. 9 en route to a 3-2 overtime setback. ... The Sabres failed on all five power-play opportunities to drop to 0-for-15 with the man advantage on the season.