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Panthers clinch postseason spot with 5-3 win over Sabres

Jonathan Huberdeau set Florida’s single-season points record, and the Panthers clinched a playoff berth with a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Huberdeau scored his 24th goal to extend his point streak to eight games and raise his season total to 97, one more than teammate Aleksander Barkov’s record set in 2019.

Anthony Duclair scored twice as the Panthers (48-15-6) established a franchise record for victories. Winning for the seventh time in eight games, Florida closed a two-game trip by improving to 20-9-6 on the road.

MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist for Florida. Anton Lundell also scored, and Spencer Knight made 26 saves.

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who are on the cusp of missing the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th consecutive season. Tage Thompson and Kyle Okposo also scored, and Dustin Tokarski stopped 35 shots. Buffalo lost an eight-game point streak (5-0-3), its longest in three seasons.

SENATORS 5, RED WINGS 2

Josh Norris scored three goals for his first career hat trick and Ottawa completed a sweep of its home-and-home series with Detroit.

Artem Zub and Nikita Zaitsev also scored for the Senators, and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.

The 22-year-old Norris, who reached the 30-goal milestone for the first time in his young NHL career, also scored in Ottawa’s 5-2 victory in Detroit on Friday night.

Michael Rasmussen and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who have lost six straight. Thomas Greiss stopped 31 shots.

The Senators honored late owner Eugene Melnyk before the game. Melnyk, 62, died last Monday after a lengthy illness.

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