MIAMI _ The Florida Panthers came into the weekend on a high note, riding a season-long three-game win streak capped by a miraculous rally from four goals down to defeat the Anaheim Ducks.
They left searching for answers to get back to that point.
The Panthers followed up a 4-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at the BB&T Center.
It marked the first time this year that the Panthers (12-7-5) had lost consecutive games in regulation and therefore went more than one game without picking up points. Florida was 4-0-1 in games following a regulation loss before this weekend.
"We're going to have to go through something like that. Every team's going to go through it," winger Brett Connolly said. "It's a matter of how we respond."
The loss on Sunday came against a Buffalo team that had lost nine of its past 10 games _ seven in regulation _ and had scored four goals just twice in that span.
The Panthers were also more aggressive on the offensive end, outshooting the Sabres 45-25.
But Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark was remarkable in net, making 43 saves, and the Sabres made the most of their limited opportunities early.
"We had a lot of shots, a lot of rebounds, a lot of nice plays around the net," center and team captain Aleksander Barkov said. " ... It wasn't our day."
Florida found itself down 3-0 less than four minutes into the second period despite being the Panthers holding the Sabres to just seven shots on goal in that frame.
Jeff Skinner opened scoring with 3:36 remaining in the first period when he re-directed a wide pass from Jack Eichel past Panthers goaltender Sam Montembeault.
The Sabres (11-9-3) doubled their lead less than two minutes later when Zemus Girgensons blasted a shot from the left side through traffic and underneath Montembeault's right arm.
Eichel then scored one himself with 16:18 left in the second period, when his wrist shot from the right circle slid into the net.
Noel Acciari gave the Panthers one goal back when he slipped a shot past Ullman in front of the net with 10:31 left in the period. It was Acciari's fifth goal of the season.
But five minutes later, a Victor Olofsson snap shot put the Sabres back up three goals.
Connolly added a Panthers power-play goal with 16:52 remaining in regulation. It was Connolly's team-leading 11th goal of the season and his first on the power play. It snapped a three-game stretch in which Florida went scoreless on the man advantage.
The Panthers entered Sunday ranked sixth in the NHL in power-play efficiency, scoring on 24.3% of its opportunities.
Girgensons closed scoring with an insurance goal for Buffalo with 6:35 left when he rebounded his own shot and squeaked it past Monteambault.
Montembeault dropped to 3-2-1 on the year.
