Luongo, Panthers stifle Sabres

Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Roberto Luongo continued his dominance of the Buffalo Sabres with his second shutout of the season, lifting the Florida Panthers to a 2-0 victory on Friday.

Luongo turned aside all 30 shots fired his way to improve to 5-0-0 with four shutouts against the Sabres over the past two seasons.

"It takes a team effort to pitch a shutout," Luongo said. "It's one of those things where sometimes you feel comfortable."

The veteran netminder also moved into sole possession of the 13th place all- time with 68 shutouts, surpassing Roy Worters.

Brad Boyes and Nick Bjugstad each scored for Florida, which improved to 3-0-1 against Buffalo this season.

Michal Neuvirth gave up both goals on 33 shots for the Sabres, who have dropped three straight and seven of eight.

"You have one bad period and it's really tough to catch up," Sabres head coach Ted Nolan said. "Our first period was God-awful."

Florida started the scoring just 3:29 into the game. Sean Bergenheim stripped Sabres defenseman Tyson Strachan of the puck behind the net, Aleksander Barkov directed it towards the slot and Boyes beat Neuvirth with a backhander for an early lead.

After Mike Weber went off for tripping, Neuvirth stopped Jimmy Hayes' backhander, but the rebound went straight to Bjugstad, who wristed it into an open net for a power-play goal and a 2-0 lead with 8:09 remaining in the first period.

Luongo stopped 11 shots in the second and 12 more in the third to preserve the win.

Game Notes

Luongo has not given up a goal in Buffalo since Feb. 11, 2006 ... Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad tallied an assist on Bjugstad's goal to tie the franchise scoring record for rookie defenseman with 21 ... Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen returned to the lineup after missing the past two games with the flu ... The two teams will conclude their season series in Florida on Feb. 28.