Balinski & Vilman Lead Victory Over NHL’s Top Team

The Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabers 4-3 (2-1, 0-1, 2-1), who had won 13 of their last 14 games before this match.

Anteni John or AJ Greer scored two goals for the winners, while Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundel stood out with an accurate shot.

Carter Verhege scored three assists for the “Panthers”, Sam Bennett assisted his teammates twice.

Balinski played 22 minutes and 19 seconds – this is a new record for playing time in his NHL career. He played 19 seconds in the numerical majority, and 53 seconds in the numerical minority.

The Latvian defender finished the match with a positive efficiency coefficient of +2. He earned an assist in the numerical majority, giving the “Panthers” a 1-0 lead at the beginning of the game.

Vilmanis played 12 minutes and three seconds in his second career NHL game, had two goals and three power plays, and had a neutral efficiency rating.

The Panthers are 12th in the Eastern Conference standings with 51 points in 45 games, but the Sabers have just one point more than the Sabers after 44 games, which puts Buffalo in sixth position.

29-year-old Balinskis scored one goal and made seven assists (1+7) in 36 matches this season, as well as accumulated a positive efficiency coefficient of +1.

The 21-year-old Vilmanis played an average of 11 minutes and 56 seconds in two NHL matches, marking himself with a neutral efficiency ratio.