John Madden and Jerred Smithson nearly doubled the Panther’s lead at the two minute mark on a two-on-one breakout, but Miller turned it aside.
Shawn Matthias and Mike Weber got into a fight after Weber ran over Tomas Kopecky heading into the Buffalo zone. Matthias was assessed a two minute minor for fighting, and Derek Roy (15) scored 30 seconds into the ensuing power play with an assist from Buffalo’s leading scorer Jason Pominville.
Jerred Smithson was called for tripping Christian Ehrhoff at the 14:20 mark, giving the Sabres their second power play of the period. The Panthers refused to let Buffalo get set, clearing the puck out five times and only allowing one shot, to Ehrhoff, near the end of the penalty.
Hits: Panthers 26-22, (Patrick Kaleta and Corey Tropp had three each for the Sabres, Mike Weaver had five for Florida)
Blocked Shots: Sabres 10-9 (Derek Roy, Alexander Sulzer and Justin Leopold had two blocks to lead the Sabres, Erik Gudbranson led Florida with three)
Faceoffs: Sabres 22-20 (Stephen Weiss has seven-of-12 for the Cats, Derek Roy has won nine-of-13 for the Sabres)
Shots on goal: Sabres 22-16 (Drew Stafford leads Buffalo with four, John Madden and Mikael Samuelsson, three each for the Panthers)
Score: Florida 2, Buffalo 2