SUNRISE, Fla. -- Vitek Vanecek made 21 saves for a shutout in his debut with the Florida Panthers in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. The Panthers (40-21-3) have won six consecutive games.

The San Jose Sharks on Thursday traded center Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Florida Panthers for a 2026 fourth-round selection. The trade is the second between the Sharks and Panthers in as many days. On Wednesday, San Jose sent goalie Vitek Vanecek to Florida for forward Patrick Giles.

After he was traded over to the Florida Panthers earlier this week, goaltender Vitek Vanecek said he planned to do whatever he could to help the team win a second Stanley Cup. Saturday was a good start. Vanecek, who came over from the San Jose Sharks in ...

A potent one-two punch of the top line, Barkov and Sam Reinhart led the charge up front for the Panthers, with each superstar forward registering a goal and two assists in the win. Notching an assist, Aaron Ekblad extended his point streak to five games.

In their place during Saturday’s morning skate, the Sharks had winger Klim Kostin in Zetterlund’s spot on a line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, goalie Georgi Romanov backing up Alexandar Georgiev, and newcomer Patrick Giles in Sturm’s old spot as the fourth-line center.