HOCKEY: Sabres continue hot play, hold off Panthers

Beck Malenstyn scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period in a 3-2 win for the Buffalo Sabres against the host Florida Panthers on Friday.

Malenstyn gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead at 11:38 of the final period. With Mattias Samuelsson positioned at the top of the crease, Malenstyn took a slap shot that beat Daniil Tarasov's glove.

Florida challenged the play for goaltender interference, with Samuelsson's stick close to Tarasov's glove, but the call stood after review.

Peyton Krebs scored an empty-net goal at 18:43 to make it 3-1, before the rebound of a Sam Bennett shot was knocked in by Rasmus Dahlin off his own goaltender to make the final 3-2.

Alex Tuch scored a goal and added an assist, while Alex Lyon stopped 27 shots for the Sabres, who have won two straight games since the NHL's Olympic break and are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games.

Bennett also had an assist, and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers, who have lost six of eight. Tarasov made 36 saves.

Florida had early chances and forced Lyon to be alert. With traffic in front, he got his pad on a Tkachuk shot at the side of the net and then poked away a loose puck seconds later before holding firm as the rebound rolled back toward him.

Tuch gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 17:48 of the first period. Ryan McLeod dished a backhand from the top of the right circle to Tuch, who quickly settled it and snapped it blocker side past Tarasov.

Tkachuk scored six seconds into a power play to tie the game at 1-1 with 13:51 remaining in the second period. After a face-off, the puck popped loose in the left circle, and Tkachuk managed to gather it, move to the front of the net and lift it short side under the bar over Lyon's right shoulder.

Carter Verhaeghe had an early chance for the Panthers three and a half minutes into the third period from the slot off a partial 2-on-1 but was denied by Lyon.

Buffalo's netminder was especially sharp midway through the period, getting pads out to hold off A.J. Greer on the doorstep and keep the game tied.

Sabres defenseman Owen Power played in his 300th NHL game.

-Field Level Media/Reuters