Panthers 2, Sabres 0: Roberto Luongo recorded his 68th career shutout to move into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list as Florida won the opener of its season-high six-game road trip.

Luongo, who snapped a tie with Roy Worters, made 12 of his 30 saves in the third period en route to his second blanking of the season - both against the Sabres. The 35-year-old turned aside 26 shots in a 1-0 victory at Buffalo on Oct. 17.

Former Sabre Brad Boyes and Nick Bjugstad scored in the first period for the Panthers, who halted their two-game skid (0-1-1) and improved to 6-0-1 in the last seven meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals. Aaron Ekblad notched an assist on Bjugstad's power-play goal to record his 21st point, tying Ed Jovanovski's franchise record (1995-96) for a rookie defenseman.

Making his 150th career appearance, Michal Neuvirth finished with 31 saves in his first start since yielding six goals in a setback to Detroit on Dec. 23. Drew Stafford recorded a team-high four shots for Buffalo, which has been outscored 35-14 during its 1-6-1 stretch.

Sean Bergenheim collected a turnover by Buffalo defenseman Tyson Strachan behind the net and the puck caromed to Boyes, who beat Neuvirth with a backhanded shot 3:29 into the contest to open the scoring. Bjugstad doubled the advantage 8 1/2 minutes later by cleaning up the rebound after Jimmy Hayes drove to the net.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida C Aleksander Barkov notched an assist for the second straight contest after mustering just three in his first 24 games this season. ... Buffalo D Rasmus Ristolainen logged 19:07 of ice time in his return from a two-game absence due to the flu. ... Panthers D Shane O'Brien was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League prior to the game. He registered three hits in his season debut with the NHL club.