Sam Reinhart continues his hot streak for Buffalo with a goal.
SUNRISE, FL. — James Reimer made 24 saves, and Aaron Ekblad scored his 50th NHL goal to help the Florida Panthers defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 at BB&T Center on Friday.
The Panthers’ fifth straight win matches their longest streak of the season and moves them one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Mike Matheson, Aleksander Barkov, and Colton Sceviour also scored for the Panthers (31-25-6), who are 12-3-0 in their past 15 games. Reimer bounced back after giving up seven goals in his last start, a 7-2 loss to Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 18.
Sam Reinhart scored, and Robin Lehner made 26 saves for the Sabres (20-34-11), who lost for the first time in three games. Buffalo is 18 points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card.
Matheson gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the first period, but Reinhart tied it 1-1 at 5:34.
Ekblad made it 2-1 at 16:41 after he received a pass from Keith Yandle and took a shot from the right face-off circle. It was his 13th goal of the season.
Barkov pushed the lead to 3-1 at 6:49 of the second period when he received a pass from Nick Bjugstad and skated between Sabres defensemen Justin Falk and Nathan Beaulieu and chipped a backhand shot to the top corner for his 24th goal.
Sceviour made it 4-1 at 11:16 when he scored his first goal since Feb. 1 on a rebound of a shot by Bjugstad for his eighth of the season.