SAM REINHART

The New York Rangers will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Sam Reinhart tied it late in regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored his second of the game in overtime and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 4 to tie the first-round series.

The pressure is squarely on the Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Calgary Flames down two games to one in their respective first-round series.

The airing of grievances and expressions of frustrations which commonly followed each of the Sabres' previous 10 losing seasons were notably absent on Saturday. At a time Buffalo set an NHL record by missing the playoffs for an 11th straight year, the mood was unmistakably upbeat among players gathering one final time. “It’s definitely a different feeling this year,” said forward Zemgus Girgensons, the team’s longest-tenured player after completing his eighth season in Buffalo.

Sam Reinhart scored his 30th and 31st goals for the Panthers.

Bennett’s goal was the 100th of his career, as well as his 200th NHL point.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad each had four assists for Florida in the win.

Sam Reinhart scored his 19th goal, Aaron Ekblad his 15th and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots.

Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist for the Panthers.

Mason Marchment had two goals and four assists, tying a franchise record for points in a single game.

Sam Bennett scored twice and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves to lead the Florida Panthers past the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on New Year’s Day in Sunrise.

Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored in the shootout, and the Florida Panthers continued their string of comebacks by rallying from three one-goal deficits to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3.

Trailing 4-1, the Panthers scored four goals on a season-high 26 shots in the third period.

Episode 44 of the Chirping the Cats podcast features one of the newest Panthers players, forward Sam Reinhart.

Owen Tippett also scored and Sam Reinhart had an empty-netter for Florida.

This year’s offseason moves have put the Panthers in prime position to take the next step in working towards championship hopes. “I think that the players are proud to be Panthers,” Zito said of the team’s new culture going into the new year. Despite the strides the Panthers made in the regular season, Zito is adamant about performing in the sport’s biggest stage. The Panthers officially signed Knight to the roster with a three-year entry-level contract towards the end of last season. However, the burning question that dominated the offseason was the extension status for the Panthers’ superstar forward and captain, Aleksander Barkov.

Jack Eichel, now stripped of his captaincy, has likely played his final game for the Sabres because of a rift with the team over how to treat a herniated disk. Forward Sam Reinhart and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen got their wish to escape Buffalo after being traded in July. Despite another offseason of headaches and negative headlines, veteran forward Kyle Okposo chose his words carefully in assessing why he believes the Sabres might be finally pointed in the right direction after spending the past decade dwelling mostly in dysfunction.

The Buffalo Sabres have stripped Jack Eichel of his captaincy.

The Florida Panthers held a virtual media day ahead of the team's 2021-22 season.

Four people with direct knowledge of the player’s decision have told The Associated Press that Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel is changing agents while in the midst of a long-standing dispute with the team over how to treat a neck injury.

The Panthers made a massive splash at the NHL Draft, acquiring elite scoring forward Sam Renihart from the Buffalo Sabres.

The Florida Panthers have signed restricted free agent forward Sam Bennett to a $17.7 million, four-year contract.

Friday night was the opening round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and over the course of the evening the Florida Panthers took steps toward not only improving the team's long-term outlook, but its immediate future as well.

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded Jakub Voracek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Cam Atkinson in the first major trade on the second day of the NHL draft.

Expect a fast and furious NHL offseason to unfold in the coming days and weeks.

The Buffalo Sabres have removed the interim tag from Don Granato and named him the team's full-time coach.

The Buffalo Sabres won the NHL draft lottery and the expansion Seattle Kraken jumped up the order to take the No. 2 pick Wednesday night.

David Krejci and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist, and the Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Thursday night.

Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped into second place in the East Division standings with a 3-2 win over Buffalo, eliminating the Sabres from playoff contention.

Buffalo Sabres celebrate a goal by center Curtis Lazar (27) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)BUFFALO, N.Y. – Embarrassment for Brandon Montour and the Buffalo Sabres turned into relief on Wednesday night. The Sabres ended their 18-game skid — the NHL’s longest in 17 years — with a resounding 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. AdThe Sabres also snapped a 0-9-2 home skid, one short of matching a franchise record set during the 1990-91 season. After Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov scored 3:50 into the second period, Buffalo responded by closing the period with goals from Fogarty and Casey Mittelstadt.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Mathew Barzal and Scott Mayfield each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. New York beat Buffalo for the fifth straight time this season, outscoring the Islanders 19-7 in those five meetings. Cal Clutterbuck extended the lead at 8:45, sending a wrist shot past Hutton for his second goal this season. AdMayfield made it 4-1 with his second goal of the season at 15:29, firing another high shot past Hutton. IRON MENThe Islanders have three players with consecutive game streaks of last 250 games: Lee 292, Brock Nelson 269 and Barzal 256.

Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel (9) carries the puck past New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich (17) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)BUFFALO, N.Y. – Jack Eichel scored in a shootout, Linus Ullmark made 31 saves and the Buffalo Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Saturday. Victor Olofsson, Tobias Rieder and Eric Staal also scored to help the Sabres improve to 3-0-2 in their past five games. AdJanne Kuokkanen, Ty Smith and Andreas Johnsson scored for New Jersey in former Sabres coach Lindy Ruff’s first trip to Buffalo since taking over the Devils this offseason. Buffalo’s top free-agent acquisition assisted on two goals, tying Eichel for the team lead with nine points in eight games. RUFF’S RETURNRuff served as a Rangers assistant and Stars head coach since being fired by the Sabres in 2013.