Panthers 7, Sabres 4
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Right winger Reilly Smith had two goals and an assist, and six Florida players scored to lead the Panthers to a 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
Defenseman Brian Campbell, left winger Jussi Jokinen, defenseman Alex Petrovic, center Brandon Pirri and right winger Jaromir Jagr also scored for the Panthers (32-16-6). Florida goalie Roberto Luongo made 30 saves.
Center Sam Reinhart scored twice for the Sabres (21-27-6). Left winger Evander Kane and defenseman Mike Weber also scored for Buffalo. Goalie Chad Johnson made 20 saves and allowed two goals after replacing Robin Lehner early in the second period.
Smith opened the scoring 7:40 into the game on a hard one-timer from the top of the right circle. It was his 17th goal of the season.
Campbell made it 2-0 three minutes later from a hard angle. Campbell's shot from outside the left circle ricocheted off Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and into the near side of the net.
Jokinen made it 3-0 with 24.6 seconds left in the first period at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play. Center Vincent Trocheck raced into the zone to prevent a potential icing before finding Smith in the right circle. Smith quickly turned to his left to find Jokinen, who buried his 11th goal of the season.
The Panthers chased Lehner early in the second period on their fourth goal of the game. After a faceoff win in the Buffalo zone, Petrovic scored on a long shot from outside the right circle.
The Sabres briefly got back into the game thanks to Reinhart. Reinhart got Buffalo on the board 1:09 into the second after an errant Buffalo shot found the rookie forward to the right of the net.
Reinhart picked up his second of the evening four minutes later on the power play. Reinhart redirected a pass from the right circle with his left skate to make it 4-2.
Pirri ended Buffalo's fleeting comeback attempt by making it 5-2 7:39 into the second. Pirri redirected Campbell's shot from the point for his 11th goal of the season.
Jagr made it 6-2 on a quick wrist shot from the right circle with 2:07 left in the second.
Kane cut the margin to three goals midway through the third period, and Weber scored with 2:43 remaining to make it 6-4.
Smith added an empty-net goal with 1:57 to play.
Kane and Petrovic had three separate fights, with the Sabres power forward coming out ahead on all three occasions. After the second fight, Kane signaled "2-0" with his hands to a loud ovation. They both received game misconducts after their third fight.
NOTES: C Aleksander Barkov, C Corban Knight and C Dave Bolland were scratched for the Panthers. Barkov was injured in the second period of Florida's 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. Prior to the injury, Barkov had 17 points in the previous 18 games. ... LW Johan Larsson (undisclosed), C Zemgus Girgensons (lower body) and D Carlo Colaiacovo were scratched for the Sabres. Larsson suffered a minor injury at the team's morning skate. ... This was the fourth and final meeting between the teams this season. ... Panthers D Brian Campbell entered the NHL with the Sabres and spent parts of eight seasons (1999-2000 to 2007-08) with Buffalo.