from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

So if you were an empty seat Thursday night in KeyBank Center, you came close to outnumbering live bodies in the stands.

The empties, and those who actually did attend a Thursday night affair against the who-cares Florida Panthers, saw a disastrous final nine minutes of the first period followed by a pretty solid showing in the second and third period. And ultimately, another loss in KeyBank Center, where the Sabres fell to 6-14-2 this season after their 4-2 defeat.

We're at the point of the season where the natives are throwing up their hands and not bothering anymore. Tickets are flying around StubHub for $6, and you want to hand out crying towels to the poor season subscribers who have performed a complete money flush yet again this season.

The Sabres announced 16,707 tickets sold for the game, the second-lowest count of the season. The in-house crowd looked substantially smaller. It wasn't USA-Slovakia World Junior level but it easily looked like the tiniest non-snowstorm crowd in many years.

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Game highlights are below...