Barkov has 2 points in return, Panthers top Sabres for 3rd win in row

Barkov has 2 points in return, Panthers top Sabres for 3rd win in row

Bennett pushes goal streak to 5 for Florida; Dahlin scores 1st of season for Buffalo

Panthers at Sabres | Recap

BUFFALO — Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist in his return from a lower-body injury in a 5-2 win for the Florida Panthers against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.

The Florida captain had missed the previous eight games with the injury.

Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (7-3-1), who have won three straight and four of their past five. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

Jason Zucker and Rasmus Dahlin scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for the Sabres (4-5-1), who had won three in a row.

Jesper Boqvist gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 11:01 of the first period, finishing off a pass from Anton Lundell on a 2-on-1 and beat Luukkonen under his right arm.

Reinhart scored on the power play 55 seconds later at 11:56 to make it 2-0 Panthers. Barkov sent a no-look, backhand pass from behind the net to Reinhart, who lifted the puck over Luukkonen’s right shoulder.

Zucker cut it to 2-1 when he batted in Tage Thompson’s floating shot at the side of the net on the power play at 10:45 of the second period.

Dahlin carried the puck from the blue line to the right circle before cutting to the front of the net and putting it under Bobrovsky’s right arm to tie it 2-2 at 12:37.

Verhaeghe put the Panthers back in front 3-2 at 16:44. Luukkonen made the save on Matthew Tkachuk’s shot from the right face-off dot, but the rebound went to Verhaeghe uncovered in front.

Bennett extended his goal streak to five games when he scored far side from the right circle on the power play for a 4-2 lead at 14:35 of the third period. Barkov’s goal from the same spot at 15:43 made it a 5-2 final.