Sabres playoff hopes fade in Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk snapped a tie in the opening minute of the third period, and the Florida Panthers topped the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory. It’s the longest win streak of the season for the Panthers (40-31-7), who moved into a tie with the New York Islanders for the top spot in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. Florida owns the first tiebreaker because of its regulation wins. The Sabres (37-32-7) are six points behind the Panthers and Islanders. The Sabres have six games left. Dylan Cozens scored for Buffalo, which had…