Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd Total 
Sabres1 1 1 3 
Rangers0 0 2 2
On a day when many Buffalo fans may have been more eager about the Bills playoff game, the Sabres put together a great performance on “90’s day.”
Honored to have these guys back in Buffalo for 90s Day. 🤩#Sabres50 pic.twitter.com/zXKdiv9Arf
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2020
The Sabres came out with a spark of energy after a great opening ceremony and ended up with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon at KeyBank Center.
It seemed like the Sabres were able to build off the momentum from Thursday’s overtime win against Edmonton.
The Sabres were being outshot, 20-13, through two periods, but they held a three-goal lead. But they sat on it in the third period. It almost backfired completely.
Florida was the better team in the final period, and they just failed to tie it up in the final seconds.
Per. Time EV Goal Assist Assist 1 5:43 
Nicklas Backstrom (1)Alex Ovechkin (1) T.J. Oshie (1) 1 8:48 PPG 
Taylor Hall (1)Victor Olofsson (1) Jack Eichel (1) 1 10:33 PPG T.J. Oshie (1)Alex Ovechkin (2) John Carlson (1) 2 7:05 John Carlson (1)T.J. Oshie (2) Nicklas Backstrom (1) 2 13:23 Brenden Dillon (1)Conor Sheary (1) Lars Eller (1) 2 18:46 Tobias Rieder (1)Dylan Cozens (1) Jake McCabe (1) 3 0:20 Jake McCabe (1)Jack Eichel (2) Tage Thompson (1) 3 0:46 Jakub Vrana (1)--- --- 3 18:06 Victor Olofsson (1)Taylor Hall (1) Sam Reinhart (1) 3 18:57 EN Garnet Hathaway (1)Nick Jensen (1) ---
Evengii Dadonov narrowed Buffalo’s lead to one with 1:10 remaining in the third.
The Panthers got themselves back into the game with a goal midway through the third from Mike Matheson. Buffalo found themselves playing in their own zone more often than not in the third period, but they managed to hang on for the win.
Henri Jokiharju opened the scoring with this great play, set up by Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel:
Goin' for the cookies 🍪#Sabres50 | @henrijokiharju pic.twitter.com/vLmowSbIWp
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2020
Conor Sheary and Sam Reinhart scored the other Buffalo goals.
Conor Sheary from Johansson, 2-0! #Sabres50 #FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/qi4Uca0cs0
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) January 4, 2020
Samson Reinhart brought out the bazooka joe and blasts it by Bobrovsky 3-0 #Sabres50 #FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/66x6liTc8V
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) January 4, 2020
Sheary played one of his best games as a Sabre and had numerous scoring chances throughout.
Sheary: "I think we are getting scoring throughout our lineup right now and it's really helped us" #Sabres50
— Brian Koziol (@BrianWGR) January 4, 2020
Johansson: "I think we've played well for a bunch of games and now were getting results now…it was fun to be out there" #Sabres50
— Brian Koziol (@BrianWGR) January 4, 2020
After the third Buffalo goal, Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled from the game after stopping just four of seven shots. Chris Dredger came on in relief and stopped all 11 shots he faced, helping Florida turn the game around.
At the other end, Linus Ullmark was strong in goal, including making a great save on a short-handed breakaway. He stopped 27 of 29 shots for the win and has been the better goaltender of late.
“With a couple of days off, it’s really important to keep that good feeling going.” – Reinhart
After four consecutive regulation losses, the Sabres have put together back-to-back wins. Up next, the Sabres head to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the St. Louis Blues. That game isn’t until Thursday, so the Sabres have some time to prepare for that one.