NHL recap Oct. 12: Sabres Beat Panthers 5-3

This NHL recap starts in Buffalo, where the Sabres beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday afternoon but lost captain Rasmus Dahlin to an upper-body injury along the way. (NHL.com)

Ottawa won its third straight, 4-1 at New Jersey, and Minnesota ended Vegas’s four-game winning streak with a 4-2 win. Those were the only three games on the NHL schedule. (NHL scores)

For the previous night, read our NHL recap from Oct. 11, and find more coverage on Hockey Informers.

Habs watch

Montreal was off Monday and practiced at the Bell Centre, with Oliver Kapanen and Mike Matheson each taking a therapy day, before back-to-back games against Buffalo on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET) and in Washington on Wednesday. (Canadiens)

Goalie Samuel Montembeault is expected to miss 10 to 14 days with a lower-body injury. (Canadiens)

Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler were the goalies on the ice at Monday’s practice. (Canadiens)

Buffalo says Dahlin is day to day and will not play against the Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday. (Sabres.com)

More Canadiens coverage is on our Montreal Canadiens page.

Sabres 5, Panthers 3

In the lead game of this NHL recap, Buffalo led three times and Florida tied it each time before Noah Ostlund finally made it stick. (NHL.com) Ostlund’s power-play goal at 7:15 of the third, set up by Zach Benson’s pass to the top of the crease, put the Sabres ahead 4-3, and Tage Thompson added the insurance goal at 13:20 on a feed from Owen Power. (NHL.com)

Sam Reinhart scored twice on the power play for Florida, the second coming off a between-the-legs pass from Brady Tkachuk, who picked up his first point as a Panther. (Sabres.com) The Panthers’ power play had gone 1-for-28 before Monday, then scored on two of its four chances. (Sabres.com)

Reinhart’s 32nd multi-goal game as a Panther moved him past Pavel Bure and Olli Jokinen for second in franchise history. (Panthers.com)

Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod each scored their first goals of the season for Buffalo, and Dahlin scored on the power play in the first period before leaving early in the second after taking a slap shot. (NHL.com) Buffalo’s power play went 2-for-5, and Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Power each had two assists. (NHL.com) The Sabres are 3-3-0 after losing their previous two games. (NHL.com)

Goaltending shaped the middle of the game. (NHL.com) Colten Ellis allowed two goals on nine shots before Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 13 of 14 in relief and got the win. (NHL.com) At the other end, Jacob Markstrom was pulled after the first period, and Akira Schmid stopped 18 shots; Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Markstrom had “just tightened up” and said he did not think there was an injury. (NHL.com)

Highlights: Panthers vs. Sabres | NHL Highlights | Oct 12, 2026

Senators 4, Devils 1

Ottawa, the second game in this NHL recap, got its fifth win in six games despite being outshot 30-20. (NHL.com) Shane Pinto scored nine seconds into the second period, Stephen Halliday made it 2-0 on a power play at 8:40, and Tim Stützle deflected in a shot from Thomas Chabot at 11:10 of the third. (NHL.com)

The Devils thought they had pulled within 3-1 at 11:58, but the Senators won a challenge for goaltender interference. (NHL.com) Arseny Gritsyuk did get one through at 14:59, and Tyler Kleven added an empty-net goal at 17:53. (NHL.com) Stützle’s assist on Halliday’s goal was the 265th of his NHL career, tying Christian Ehrhoff for third among German-born players. (NHL.com)

Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the Senators (5-1-0) and Nico Daws stopped 16 for the Devils (2-3-0). (NHL.com) New Jersey outshot Ottawa 14-3 in the third period, which Stützle admitted could have been better, and Ottawa lost defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to an upper-body injury after Anthony Mantha was given a five-minute major for boarding him in the first. (NHL.com) Ottawa reached five wins in six or fewer games for the third time in franchise history, after 2007-08 and 2005-06. (NHL.com)

Highlights: Senators vs. Devils | NHL Highlights | Oct 12, 2026

Wild 4, Golden Knights 2

Minnesota, the last team in this NHL recap, did the heavy lifting early. (NHL.com) Matt Boldy scored off his own rebound at 11:50 of the first, Maxim Shabanov added a power-play goal at 14:32, the first of his NHL career, and Danila Yurov made it 3-0 at 16:57. (NHL.com)

Rasmus Andersson scored 2:37 into the second and William Karlsson cut it to 3-2 at 9:25 of the third on a 2-on-1 with Brett Howden. (NHL.com) Joel Eriksson Ek sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1:22 left, with Kirill Kaprizov assisting. (NHL.com) Jesper Wallstedt made 21 saves for Minnesota (4-1-1), while Carter Hart stopped 24 for Vegas (5-2-0). (NHL.com)

Quinn Hughes had two assists to extend his point streak to open the season to six games, tied for the second longest in Wild history. (NHL.com) Minnesota killed all five penalties and has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its six games, tying a franchise record. (NHL.com) Forward Nico Sturm left in the first period with an upper-body injury and was taken to the hospital, according to coach John Hynes. (NHL.com)

Highlights: Golden Knights vs. Wild | NHL Highlights | Oct 12, 2026

NHL recap: three stars of the night

Hockey Informers selections:

1. Noah Ostlund, Sabres — the go-ahead power-play goal in the 5-3 win. (NHL.com)
2. Linus Ullmark, Senators — 29 saves in the 4-1 win at New Jersey. (NHL.com)
3. Matt Boldy, Wild — opened the scoring in a three-goal first period. (NHL.com)

Up next

Tuesday brings 16 games, including Buffalo at Montreal at 6:30 p.m. ET, Washington at Carolina, and Tampa Bay at the Rangers. (NHL schedule)

Find all the night’s videos on our Highlights page and return for the next NHL recap.