BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The blueliner left Monday's 5-3 win over Florida in the second period and did not return. Dahlin was quarterbacking Buffalo's power play when he blocked a shot from the slot off a faceoff and immediately went down to a knee. The defender recovered enough to skate off to the bench in discomfort before heading to the team's dressing room.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff confirmed Dahlin was hurt on the play and would not travel with Buffalo to Montreal for the second half of its back-to-back on Tuesday.
"He'll be treated better here and doesn't have to get on an airplane right now," Ruff said. "That rules him out for tomorrow."
Before his injury, Dahlin scored his second goal of the season with a power-play tally late in the first period. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout with the Panthers, with both teams needing to make goalie changes.
Florida's Jacob Markstrom got the call to start and gave up two goals on nine shots in the first period. He was replaced by Akira Schmid (18 saves on 21 shots).
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the game they pulled Markstrom because he "just tightened up" but that he believed it was "standard stuff" and not indicative of a lasting injury to Markstrom.
Buffalo also flipped their netminders -- Colten Ellis started the afternoon tilt but allowed two goals on nine shots and Ruff took him out in favor of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He held the Sabres in check with 13 saves on 14 shots while Noah Ostlund's third period power play broke a 3-3 stalemate, and Tage Thompson added his fourth of the year to secure Buffalo's win.
The Sabres are 3-3-3 on the season, just ahead of Florida ( 2-2-2) for fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the Atlantic Division.