The Buffalo Sabres win their second straight with a 4-2 triumph over the Florida Panthers.
By Joe Yerdon / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Greece native and Buffalo Sabres team captain Brian Gionta scored the game-winning goal in his 1000th NHL game on Monday night at the KeyBank Center.
Gionta’s goal gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead as they ended up with a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers missed an opportunity to gain ground in the Stanley Cup Playoff race with the loss.
Florida (33-31-11) is seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining.
The Sabres (32-32-12) have won two straight and four of their past five games.
Ryan O’Reilly gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 3:21 of the first period with a power-play goal. O’Reilly put a rebound of Jack Eichel’s shot past James Reimer for his 19th goal.
Zach Bogosian made it 2-0 at 14:06 of the first period when he put a rebound of his own shot that went off the post and past Reimer for his second goal.
Brian Gionta made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 1:25 of the second period. Gionta shot the puck from the side of the net off Jason Demers and past Reimer. Gionta played in his 1,000th NHL career game.
Jonathan Marchessault made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 10:19 of the second period. Marchessault received a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau in the slot and took a shot that beat Robin Lehner for his 29th goal of the season and his sixth in the past three games.
Marcus Foligno made it 4-1 at 15:08 of the second period when he took a shot from near the boards that beat Reimer for his 13th goal.
Reimer was replaced by Reto Berra after Foligno’s goal. Reimer allowed four goals on 22 shots; Berra made 10 saves.
Huberdeau scored 1:02 later when he faked a shot and slipped the puck past Lehner to make it 4-2.
Lehner made 30 saves, including a penalty shot by Reilly Smith at 5:23 of the third period.