Alex Lyon stopped 32 shots for his first shutout with the Buffalo Sabres, leading them to a 3-0 victory over the Florida Panthers at KeyBank Center on Saturday. Josh Doan scored twice on the power play, while Owen Power added a third goal for Buffalo, who improved to 2-3-0. The Panthers, now 3-4-0 after four straight losses, went 0-for-7 on the power play despite generating 15 shots.
The Sabres jumped ahead early when Josh Doan tipped a shot from Tage Thompson past Sergei Bobrovsky at 7:13 of the first period for a 1-0 lead on the power play. It marked Doan's first goal with Buffalo after his acquisition from Utah on June 26 in a trade for JJ Peterka. Lyon, who signed with the Sabres on July 1 and previously played 15 games for Florida in 2022-23, preserved the shutout with key stops, including early penalties just nine seconds into the game.
In the second period, tensions escalated when Rasmus Dahlin cross-checked Brad Marchand, leading to a scrum and the Sabres earning another power play. Doan capitalized at 11:12, redirecting Jason Zucker's pass for his second goal, making it 2-0. Owen Power then joined the rush and chipped a feed from Alex Tuch over Bobrovsky's pad at 14:20 to extend the lead to 3-0. Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves, including a denial of Peyton Krebs on a late breakaway.
Florida generated 4.53 expected goals and 17 high-danger shot attempts but couldn't convert, with 20 shots blocked by Buffalo. The Panthers controlled 68.57% of 5-on-5 shot attempts with Sam Reinhart on the ice, and Anton Lundell won a team-high 11 faceoffs. Mackie Samoskevich led Florida with seven shots on goal, while Aaron Ekblad blocked four.
"Chaos is a strength of my game," Doan said of his net-front style. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff praised Doan's addition to the top power-play unit. For Florida, coach Paul Maurice noted the team's shot mentality but sync issues. "This league is so challenging," Bobrovsky said of the skid, during which the Panthers have been outscored 15-4.
Injuries impacted both sides: Buffalo's Jacob Bryson entered concussion protocol after a first-period hit from Jonah Gadjovich, playing just one shift. Florida's Niko Mikkola left with an upper-body injury at 4:14 of the second, with Dmitry Kulikov already out five months. Marchand's five-game point streak (three goals, three assists) ended. Buffalo's penalty kill went 7-for-7, boosting their NHL-leading 95.7% rate, while their power play hit 27.8% (fifth in NHL).