Jagr, Panthers top Sabres in shootout
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jaromir Jagr, who had three assists, and Roberto Luongo, who got the win, reached impressive career milestones, leading the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at the BB&T Center.
Florida got shootout goals from Vincent Trocheck and Aleksander Barkov. Buffalo didn't score in the shootout.
Jagr tied Mark Messier for second place on the all-time NHL list with 1,887 points.
Luongo tied Terry Sawchuk for fifth place on the career NHL wins list with 447. He won a goalie battle with Buffalo's Robin Lehner.
Trailing 3-2, Florida's Nick Bjugstad scored the tying goal with 3:51 left in the third. Jagr got the second assist on that goal.
The Panthers (15-13-5) also got goals from Barkov and Keith Yandle. Barkov, who added two assists, has 10 points in the past eight games.
Buffalo got second-period goals from Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane and a third-period score from Rasmus Ristolainen.
But it wasn't enough, and the Sabres (12-11-8) failed in an attempt to get coach Dan Bylsma career win No. 300.
Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov made his first appearance at the BB&T Center since he was traded from Florida to Buffalo in July. He failed to get a point.
Florida opened the scoring with 3:51 left in the first period when Barkov collected his own rebound and shot the puck in off Lehner's left skate. That capped a dominant first period for Florida, which outshot Buffalo 16-4.
The Panthers made it 2-0 with 7:46 left in the second period. After Zach Bogosian was sent off for slashing Barkov, the Panthers went to work. Barkov slid the puck to Yandle, whose shot from the point got past Lehner. Jagr, who got a secondary assist on the play, also set an effective screen on the shot.
Buffalo got back in the game after a crosschecking penalty on Demers, who hit Sabres right winger Brian Gionta. Buffalo made Florida pay on Reinhart's power-play goal on which he got a stick on Rasmus Ristolainen's wrist shot.
Just 70 seconds later, with 3:05 left in the second, the Sabres tied the score at 2-2. Cody Franson shot from beyond the left circle, Gionta gathered the rebound and shoveled the puck to his right, where Kane had an easy goal.
Buffalo outshot the Panthers 17-11 in the second.
NOTES: Panthers billionaire owner Vinnie Viola, 60, has been nominated by president-elect Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Army. Viola, a West Point graduate who made his fortune on Wall Street, will remain as Panthers owner. ... Tuesday's game started a streak in which the Panthers play eight of nine games at home. Prior to this, they played 13 of 17 on the road and had the fewest home games in the league. ... Panthers C Jonathan Huberdeau (torn Achilles tendon) and D Alex Petrovic (broken foot) could return in one month. ... Panthers C Jonathan Marchessault (groin) missed his third straight game. ... Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen, 22, entered Tuesday's game fifth in the NHL in minutes played and fifth in scoring among defensemen. ... Buffalo scratched D Justin Faulk and LW Nicolas Deslauriers. ... Florida scratched D Dylan McIlrath and C Kyle Rau.