Yandle has goal, 2 assists in Panthers' 4-2 win over Sabres

By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Keith Yandle and the Florida Panthers took advantage of the undisciplined Buffalo Sabres in the first period. And then the Panthers stood their ground once things got chippy in the final two minutes.

Yandle scored a goal and had two assists, and Harri Sateri stopped the final 19 shots he faced - and 30 overall - in a 4-2 victory in a game that finished with officials issuing four major penalties - three to Sabres players - on Thursday night.

"Yeah, that was one of those games that got out of hand a little bit with some cheap stuff," Yandle said. "But the big thing is finding a way to win, and we did a good job of that."

The Panthers scored three times - including two power-play goals - in a span of 7 minutes, 5 seconds to build a 3-1 lead in the first period. Then emotions began flaring once Colton Sceviour sealed the win by sneaking in a backhand shot with 2:24 remaining in the third.

The most serious scuffle involved Buffalo forward Johann Larsson, who was issued a 10-minute match penalty and 5-minute major for cross-checking Vincent Trocheck across the face with 35 seconds left. Larsson's hit came after Trocheck slashed Buffalo defenseman Jake McCabe at the Florida blue line.

Some 90 seconds earlier, Sabres forward Evander Kane was issued a major penalty for interference for his blindside hit on Aleksander Barkov just inside Buffalo's blue line. Barkov had just released a pass and was pushed back by a hit from Buffalo's Marco Scandella, before being immediately bowled over by Kane, who was following the play.

Kane was then confronted by Florida's Nick Bjugstad with the two exchanging punches in the corner.

Yandle took exception to Kane's hit, accusing the forward of "kind of running around and being stupid."

Kane defended himself by saying he couldn't have avoided Barkov, who was already falling backward.

"I didn't really see them," Kane said.

Larsson said he doesn't believe he did anything to justify the match penalty, even though replays showed him striking Trocheck in the face.

"The guy came right at me and I pushed him a little bit," Larsson said, who faces a one-game misconduct pending an NHL review on Friday.

Trocheck was not penalized for his slash on McCabe. McCabe was issued a 5-minute fighting major, as was Panthers defenseman Alexander Petrovic. Florida forward Micheal Haley then picked up a 10-minute misconduct for sparking a scuffle in front of the Buffalo net with 3 seconds left.

Mike Matheson and Denis Malgin also scored for the Panthers, who won consecutive games for the first time since winning five in a row from Dec. 19-30. Sateri, a 28-year-old NHL rookie, won his second career game with starter Roberto Luongo and backup James Reimer both sidelined with lower-body injuries.

Ryan O'Reilly and Zemgus Girgensons scored, and Chad Johnson stopped 28 shots for a Sabres team that continues to struggle at home. Buffalo ranks last in the Eastern Conference standings and dropped to 6-14-3 at home after entering the day tied with Arizona with the NHL's fewest home wins.

The Sabres blamed themselves for four penalties that led to two of Florida's three first-period goals. That included Yandle tying the game by scoring during a two-man advantage at the 11:06 mark by one-timing in Barkov's feed into the right circle.

Missed scoring chances didn't help Buffalo either.

Kane, O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo all had shots that missed the net from in close.

"We've got to hit the net. We've got to bear down on our chances," Okposo said. "It's frustrating when you don't win at home."

Panthers coach Bob Boughner was relieved to escape with a victory and come out of the NHL All-Star break with two wins following a 4-1 victory at the New York Islanders on Tuesday,

"Our ice was slanted in the second half of the game, and I think our brains turned off a little bit," Boughner said. "It probably wasn't one of our prettier wins of the year, but I guess I can't be picky."

NOTES: Reimer took part in the team's morning skate, but missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury. ... Sabres C Jacob Josefson returned after missing seven games with a lower body injury. ... Barkov played in his 300th career game.

UP NEXT

Panthers: open three-game homestand against Detroit on Saturday.

Sabres: continue five-game homestand against St. Louis on Saturday.

Devils snap 4-game skid with 3-1 win over Sabres

By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Following the Devils' pregame skate Tuesday, forward Taylor Hall wasn't sure what to expect upon returning to the lineup after missing three games with a sore right thumb.

Nothing appeared to be bothering New Jersey's top offensive threat come the third period, when Hall fired in a shot from the left circle for the decisive goal in a 3-1 win over Buffalo. Sabres goalie Robin Lehner actually got a piece of the shot with his glove, but the puck still had enough momentum to trickle behind him.

"Sometimes you get in the game and adrenaline takes over and you find a way to feel good," Hall said afterward. "Not to make myself sound like a warrior, but you play through stuff, and a lot of the guys in this room are."

The Devils have plenty to feel better about in coming out of the NHL All-Star break by snapping a four-game skid that included two shutout losses.

Kyle Palmieri scored an empty-net goal and added an assist, and Miles Wood also scored in a game the Devils never trailed. Backup goalie Keith Kinkaid stopped 27 shots in his first game since missing three with a groin injury. He started in place of Cory Schneider, who missed his fourth game since also hurting his groin.

This was the type of fresh start veteran defenseman Andy Greene hoped the Devils would get after a four-day break, and following a difficult stretch in which they went 2-7-3.

"It's a mental reset and that was important for us," Greene said. "This is only one game, but hopefully this is the start of a good run here."

The Sabres, by comparison, reverted to their past troubles by continuing their home woes while failing to build off the momentum of sweeping a three-game swing through Western Canada.

Jake McCabe scored a power-play goal, and the Eastern Conference's last-place team opened a five-game homestand with a loss that dropped the Sabres to 6-13-2 in Buffalo. That doesn't include a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in the Winter Classic at Citi Field, which was considered a Sabres "home" game.

"It's tough. We want to bring that hockey that we showed that we can play out west to this arena," McCabe said of a road trip in which the Sabres outscored their opponents by a combined 11-1. "We need to bring that for our fans and for this city. And tonight's unacceptable."

McCabe's goal cut the Devils' lead to 2-1 with 5:02 remaining. The Sabres were unable to capitalize on their fourth and final power-play opportunity when Devils rookie Nico Hischier was penalized for cross-checking with 2:45 remaining.

Kinkaid made a key save during a scramble in front with 1:30 left. He reached out with his left arm to turn aside Ryan O'Reilly's chance from in close.

Wood opened the scoring 5:49 into the second period by bursting up the left wing and then cutting through the crease to backhand the puck into the open right side.

Lehner, who finished with 25 saves, set a career best with his shutout streak that ended at 145 minutes and 15 seconds, topping his previous best by more than 19 minutes. He had stopped a combined 63 shots in a 5-0 win over Edmonton and a 4-0 victory over Vancouver last week.

Wood's goal also ended the shutout streak shared by Lehner and backup Chad Johnson at 199:19 - a little under 27 minutes short of the franchise record.

NOTES: Before the game, the Sabres held a moment of silence in tribute to USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 21. General manager Jason Botterill, U.S.-born coach Phil Housley and forward Jack Eichel spoke fondly of Johannson in a video broadcast on the scoreboard. Housley referred to Johannson as "the classiest guy you'd ever want to meet." ... Devils coach John Hynes said Schneider is scheduled to begin skating on his own in the next day or so. ... In discussing the Devils' skid earlier in the day, Hall provided an amusing quote that didn't exactly add up by saying: "Hockey's a funny game. It goes in 10-game segments. We started off 9-2 and then in our last 11, I think we're 2-9-2. So what team are we?"

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Sabres: Host the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Lehner earns 2nd straight shutout, Sabres beat Canucks 4-0

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – Robin Lehner and the Buffalo Sabres have gotten pretty stingy lately.

Lehner made 30 saves for his second straight shutout and the Sabres blanked the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Thursday night.

"We didn't give them too much defensively," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We were really tight to our net and we tried to protect Robin as best we could," said Sabres coach Phil Housley. "And when we needed a save, Robin was big tonight.

"We bent but we didn't break and that's about sticking to the plan."

Sam Reinhart, Nicholas Baptiste, Kyle Okposo and Johan Larsson scored for the Sabres, who won three straight games for the first time this season. Buffalo also shut out Edmonton 5-0 on Tuesday night.

The Canucks were playing the second game of a five-game homestand and also coming off a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

"That's disappointing," Daniel Sedin said. "I thought we had a really good game against LA and we expected to be as good tonight. We weren't."

Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves for Vancouver.

"We're not a good enough team to play 45 minutes and I'm pretty sure our players know that," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "We definitely had a letdown after a big emotional win in our last game and I'm not happy about it."

Buffalo came out the aggressor in the first and had Vancouver on its heels for most of the period. Just over four minutes in, Scott Wilson skated out from behind the Canucks' net and took a shot that rebounded into the slot where Reinhart backhanded it in for his 10th of the season.

The Canucks controlled the play early in the second. Rookie forward Brock Boeser had two crowd-thrilling chances, including an all-alone opportunity at Lehner's doorstep that he fanned on.

Buffalo made it 2-0 at 12:49 when Jake Virtanen's turnover led to Benoit Pouliot finding Baptiste streaking near the net. Baptiste coolly backhanded the puck under Markstrom's pad for his first this season.

It could have been 3-0 early in the third period, but Sabres forward Evander Kane wristed a hard shot that clanged off the crossbar.

At the other end, Lehner got his body in front of a close shot by Henrik Sedin to keep the Canucks scoreless with just over seven minutes left. Soon after, Vancouver went on the power play and Lehner was pressed into action, stopping Loui Eriksson's tip and a mad scramble in his crease.

Buffalo got some insurance with just over three minutes left. Marco Scandella's shot squeezed through Markstrom's pads and Okposo was right there to knock it in and make it 3-0.

Larsson scored an empty-netter.

"It's very frustrating, we're playing good, like a couple nights ago," Markstrom said, "and I don't know if the guys get loose or too relaxed and think we're a great hockey team that can go half speed . and it includes myself. I need to come up with two good games in a row and bail my teammates out."

NOTES: Vancouver will be represented in the All-Star game by Boeser (24 goals, 43 points), while Buffalo will send forward Jack Eichel (20 goals, 49 points) to the game.

UP NEXT:

Sabres: home vs. New Jersey on Tues. Jan. 30.

Canucks: home vs. Colorado on Tues. Jan. 30.

Dreger: Evander Kane trade talks are 'heating up'

The Buffalo Sabres are expected to move Evander Kane before the Feb. 26 NHL trade deadline.

The 26-year-old left wing is due to become an unrestricted free agent in July and could seek a significant raise over his current $5.25 million annual average salary.

Last week, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was seeking a first-round draft pick, a prospect and a conditional pick. On Tuesday, TSN's Darren Dreger said there are teams claiming Botterill also wants an NHL roster player included. Then, on Friday, Dreger reported the trade talks over Kane were "heating up."

In 45 appearances in 2017-18, the Vancouver, BC native has recorded 16 goals and 20 assists (36 points) with a plus-minus of minus-10 and 34 penalty minutes.

Buchnevich scores go-ahead goal, Rangers hold off Sabres 4-3

By ALLAN KREDA
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rangers have been waiting all season for Rick Nash to score in bunches. A fresh line combination may be doing the trick.

Nash scored twice for the second straight game and new linemate Pavel Buchnevich scored the winner late in the third period as the Rangers edged the conference-worst Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Thursday night.

Buchnevich scored the go-ahead goal at 16:02 after the Sabres had tied the game for the third time on a power-play goal by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at 14:59 of the third. Nash, who opened the scoring early in the first and put the Rangers ahead 3-2 at 6:49 of the third, has 13 goals this season. He also scored twice in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"Sometimes you get five or six opportunities a night and don't score. Other times, you get two chances and put them both in," Nash said. "You've got to stay level-headed and stay with it."

Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for the Rangers, who won their second straight after three consecutive losses.

"In the end, we had some guys playing big minutes come up with big goals," said Lundqvist, referring to the new combination of Nash with Buchnevich and center Mika Zibanejad. "They move the puck really well and their timing is there right now."

Buchnevich's goal was his 12th of the season. He also had assists on both goals by Nash.

"It's important if your line scores," the soft-spoken Buchnevich said. "You feel better."

The Rangers (24-17-5) have won 11 of their last 14 games against Buffalo, which fell to an Eastern Conference-worst 11-25-9. The Rangers currently hold one of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Sabres continue to struggle with only one win in seven games this month.

"It's really disappointing because our power-play was sharp," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We were anxious and eager to do something big. It's just unfortunate because all of our work goes for nothing."

Buffalo defenseman Justin Falk had tied it with his first goal of the season when his long slot eluded Lundqvist at 17:10 of the second.

Falk's shot from the point slid through just as Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei and Sabres forward Sam Reinhart skated in front of Lundqvist and seemed to hamper his view. Falk's previous goal came 100 games ago in March 2015, when he was playing for Columbus.

J.T. Miller, who scored the overtime winner when the Rangers beat the Sabres 3-2 in the Winter Classic at Citi Field on Jan. 1, scored midway through the second to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Miller's 10th goal came on the power-play at 8:26 of the second when he rifled the puck past Lehner. David Desharnais assisted.

Lundqvist has dominated the Sabres in recent seasons with an 8-2-0 record since Oct. 31, 2013. He improved to 21-11-4 on the season.

"We said we needed this one. When we play on top of our game, we're a really good team," Lundqvist added. "I like the combinations right now. The lines are working hard and making smart plays."

Nash opened the scoring at 1:24 of the first on a breakaway, beating Lehner high to the glove side. Nash has points in nine of last 14 games against the Sabres with 11 goals and five assists overall. Nash hadn't scored in 12 games before his two-goal against the Flyers on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old right wing, who has 429 career goals, could become an unrestricted free agent in July after his current eight-year contract expires. He has been with the Rangers since July 2012 when he was acquired from Columbus.

Sabres forward Kyle Okposo knotted the score at 1 with his eighth goal at 18:41 of the first. He slid a rebound past Lundqvist, with assists to Reinhart and Jack Eichel, who has 19 points in his last 13 games.

Only 13 of the Rangers' 36 remaining games are at home. They are 17-8-3 at home, but just 7-9-2 away from Madison Square Garden. They start a four-game trip at Colorado on Saturday followed by contests at Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose before the All-Star break.

"We have a tough road trip ahead," Lundqvist said. "We look forward to that test."

NOTES: Four of the last five meetings between the Rangers and Sabres have been decided by one goal. ... The Rangers have won 15 of last 26 games against the Sabres with a 15-8-3 mark overall. ... The teams meet again on March 24 at Madison Square Garden. ... The Rangers were without defenseman Marc Staal because of a hip flexor. They were also without injured forward Kevin Hayes for the third straight game. ... The Sabres scratched defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Victor Antipin.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Host Dallas on Saturday.

Rangers: At Colorado on Saturday.

Buchnevich scores go-ahead goal, Rangers hold off Sabres 4-3

By ALLAN KREDA
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rangers have been waiting all season for Rick Nash to score in bunches. A fresh line combination may be doing the trick.

Nash scored twice for the second straight game and new linemate Pavel Buchnevich scored the winner late in the third period as the Rangers edged the conference-worst Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Thursday night.

Buchnevich scored the go-ahead goal at 16:02 after the Sabres had tied the game for the third time on a power-play goal by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at 14:59 of the third. Nash, who opened the scoring early in the first and put the Rangers ahead 3-2 at 6:49 of the third, has 13 goals this season. He also scored twice in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"Sometimes you get five or six opportunities a night and don't score. Other times, you get two chances and put them both in," Nash said. "You've got to stay level-headed and stay with it."

Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for the Rangers, who won their second straight after three consecutive losses.

"In the end, we had some guys playing big minutes come up with big goals," said Lundqvist, referring to the new combination of Nash with Buchnevich and center Mika Zibanejad. "They move the puck really well and their timing is there right now."

Buchnevich's goal was his 12th of the season. He also had assists on both goals by Nash.

"It's important if your line scores," the soft-spoken Buchnevich said. "You feel better."

The Rangers (24-17-5) have won 11 of their last 14 games against Buffalo, which fell to an Eastern Conference-worst 11-25-9. The Rangers currently hold one of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Sabres continue to struggle with only one win in seven games this month.

"It's really disappointing because our power-play was sharp," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We were anxious and eager to do something big. It's just unfortunate because all of our work goes for nothing."

Buffalo defenseman Justin Falk had tied it with his first goal of the season when his long slot eluded Lundqvist at 17:10 of the second.

Falk's shot from the point slid through just as Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei and Sabres forward Sam Reinhart skated in front of Lundqvist and seemed to hamper his view. Falk's previous goal came 100 games ago in March 2015, when he was playing for Columbus.

J.T. Miller, who scored the overtime winner when the Rangers beat the Sabres 3-2 in the Winter Classic at Citi Field on Jan. 1, scored midway through the second to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Miller's 10th goal came on the power-play at 8:26 of the second when he rifled the puck past Lehner. David Desharnais assisted.

Lundqvist has dominated the Sabres in recent seasons with an 8-2-0 record since Oct. 31, 2013. He improved to 21-11-4 on the season.

"We said we needed this one. When we play on top of our game, we're a really good team," Lundqvist added. "I like the combinations right now. The lines are working hard and making smart plays."

Nash opened the scoring at 1:24 of the first on a breakaway, beating Lehner high to the glove side. Nash has points in nine of last 14 games against the Sabres with 11 goals and five assists overall. Nash hadn't scored in 12 games before his two-goal against the Flyers on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old right wing, who has 429 career goals, could become an unrestricted free agent in July after his current eight-year contract expires. He has been with the Rangers since July 2012 when he was acquired from Columbus.

Sabres forward Kyle Okposo knotted the score at 1 with his eighth goal at 18:41 of the first. He slid a rebound past Lundqvist, with assists to Reinhart and Jack Eichel, who has 19 points in his last 13 games.

Only 13 of the Rangers' 36 remaining games are at home. They are 17-8-3 at home, but just 7-9-2 away from Madison Square Garden. They start a four-game trip at Colorado on Saturday followed by contests at Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose before the All-Star break.

"We have a tough road trip ahead," Lundqvist said. "We look forward to that test."

NOTES: Four of the last five meetings between the Rangers and Sabres have been decided by one goal. ... The Rangers have won 15 of last 26 games against the Sabres with a 15-8-3 mark overall. ... The teams meet again on March 24 at Madison Square Garden. ... The Rangers were without defenseman Marc Staal because of a hip flexor. They were also without injured forward Kevin Hayes for the third straight game. ... The Sabres scratched defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Victor Antipin.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Host Dallas on Saturday.

Rangers: At Colorado on Saturday.

Okposo has goal, assist in Sabres' 3-1 win over Blue Jackets

By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Kyle Okposo welcomed the opportunity to capitalize on a fortunate bounce in a season during which very little has gone right for the offensively challenged Buffalo Sabres.

"Yeah, hopefully that's a little gift from the hockey gods tonight for me and for the team," Okposo said after Buffalo snapped an 0-4-1 skid in beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Thursday night.

Okposo added an assist and scored the eventual game-winner by sweeping a loose puck into an unattended net 7:18 into the third period.

Buffalo forward Evander Kane started the play with an innocent-looking dump-in up the right boards. The puck hit a crease along the boards and caromed directly to Okposo rather than to goalie Sergei Bobrovksy, who was waiting for the puck behind the Columbus net.

"When you work, you seem to get those bounces," Okposo said. "There's times you're not going to get them, so you've got to take them when they're there."

Benoit Pouliot and Jack Eichel, with an empty-netter, also scored for Buffalo (11-24-9), which sits last in the Eastern Conference standings while generating an NHL-low 99 goals.

Linus Ullmark stopped 44 shots in his first NHL game of the season. He stopped the first 39 shots he faced before having his shutout bid foiled on Artemi Panarin's power-play goal with 6:15 remaining.

Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots and could only shake his head in describing how helpless he felt watching Okposo score.

"Nothing I've got to add," he said. "There is a bad bounce and we couldn't do anything."

It didn't help that Columbus defenseman Seth Jones was caught out of position when he glanced back at Okposo at the exact moment the puck bounced off the boards."

"I saw Jones look over his shoulder," Okposo said. "I was just hoping that he didn't see it. And he didn't see it in time."

Unlike the Sabres, the Blue Jackets didn't get the bounces.

Panarin also had a shot hit off the inside of the post and bounce through the crease in the first period, and also hit the crossbar late in the third.

Columbus has had trouble generating offense even though the Blue Jackets were coming off a 3-2 overtime win at Toronto in which they scored twice in the final 4:35.

Columbus has now managed just six goals in regulation and been shut out twice in its past six.

Defenseman Zach Werenski said the Blue Jackets didn't get enough traffic in front of Ullmark.

"It's all from the outside. We had no second chances," Werenski said. "(Ullmark's) a big goalie. He saved everything he saw."

Ullmark got the start with Robin Lehner still sore after being struck in the neck by a shot in a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday.

It was Ullmark's 22nd career NHL game. He was called up from AHL Rochester, where he has a 17-5-1 record.

He stopped 15 shots in the second period alone, with his best save coming midway through the frame. Columbus cycled the puck through the zone, eventually getting it to Jones alone in the high slot. Jones snapped a shot through a crowd only to have Ullmark get his glove down to snag it.

"I just think the confidence he has, I think he's carried that forward from Rochester," coach Phil Housley said of Ullmark. "He's very calm, doesn't overplay things."

NOTES: Blue Jackets C Alexander Wennberg returned after missing eight games with a back injury. ... Sabres D Zach Bogosian will miss between four and six weeks after hurting his lower left leg in practice Wednesday. ... The Blue Jackets recalled backup G Joonas Korpisalo from AHL Cleveland, two days after he was demoted and stopped 29 shots in the Monsters' 1-0 loss at Milwaukee.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Host Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

Sabres: Enter NHL-mandated five-day break, and are off until playing at New York Rangers on Jan. 18

Connor, Ehlers score 2 goals in Jets' 7-4 win over Sabres

By JONAH BRONSTEIN
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- High-octane offense continues to fuel the surging Winnipeg Jets.

Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, Nikolaj Ehlers also scored twice, and the Jets defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.

The Central Division-leading Jets are 6-0-1 in their past seven games and have scored at least four goals in their past 13 victories.

"Everyone's stepped up a little bit," said Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who had two assists to extend his point streak to seven games.

"We've had some injuries and some guys have been given opportunities to play a little bit different role, a little bit bigger role, and done a good job."

Patrik Laine and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets in the opener of a three-game road trip. Joel Armia added an empty-netter as the Jets tallied seven goals for the fourth time this season. Jacob Trouba and Mathieu Perreault each had two assists.

Winnipeg's backup goaltender Steve Mason made 30 saves to earn a win for the first time in his past four starts.

"It was nice to have the goal support," Mason said. "That made it a little easier for me to settle back in a rhythm."

Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist and Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists for the Sabres, who were playing at home for first time since Dec. 22.

Buffalo has lost five in a row and twice in five days against the Jets.

Jason Pominville also scored and Robin Lehner stopped 14 shots before getting pulled early in the second period after allowing a third goal.

"I got to be better," Lehner said. "I take responsibility for this."

Laine scored on a power play at 6:43 of the first to record his 100th NHL point, joining Toronto's Auston Matthews as the second player from the 2016 draft to reach the milestone. It was Laine's 19th goal of the season.

The Sabres tied the game when Eichel scored for the first time in five games late in the first period.

Byfuglien responded 49 seconds later for Winnipeg with a slap shot from just inside the blue line for his second of the season.

"You think you get momentum back and they get a goal," Eichel said. "Obviously, shifts after a goal are important."

Ehlers made it 3-1 less than two minutes into the second period, sending Lehner to the bench. Connor lifted one over the shoulder of Sabres backup goaltender Chad Johnson (16 saves) from the slot later in the period and Ehlers scored again midway through a four-minute power play a few minutes later to tie Laine for the team lead with 19 goals.

"They've scored more goals than their ages almost," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.

Laine snapped a seven-game goal drought and Ehlers went eight games without a goal before Tuesday.

"We knew how many goals and how games we had without a goal," Laine said. "Right away when we started to talk about it we both got goals so we should maybe talk about something like that more often."

Winnipeg entered the game with the NHL's second-ranked power play (25 percent) and has converted in six straight games.

Eichel set up O'Reilly for a power-play goal in the closing minutes of the second period.

Connor scored his 15th of the season from the slot in the early stages of the third.

After Pominville played the puck off the backboards for a goal, Eichel scored his 17th of the season to make it a two-goal game with 5:07 remaining.

Buffalo's top defensive prospect Brendan Guhle made his season debut a day after being called up from Rochester, the team's American Hockey League affiliate. Guhle was promoted with defenseman Victor Antipin sidelined by an illness, and Rochester in the midst of a five-day break.

"We want Brendan to continue playing, so it's a scenario where it's probably for a couple of games here and then we'll have our break," Sabres general manager Jason Botterill said.

"He's shown some great strides and he's deserving of this call-up right now. He's done everything that's been asked of him at the American Hockey League level."

Guhle was in the penalty box for hooking when the Jets scored their opening goal.

NOTES: Jets RW Patrik Laine recorded his 100th point in his 117th NHL game, becoming the fourth-fastest Finnish-born player to reach the milestone after Teemu Selanne (68 games), Jari Kurri (100 games) and Christian Ruuttu (114 games). ... Sabres C Jacob Josefson left the game after blocking a shot in the first period and did not return. ... Jets D Tyler Myers played in Buffalo for the first time since being traded to Winnipeg in 2015. Myers, the Sabres' first-round pick in 2008, was injured during the Jets' previous two visits. ... Jets LW Brandon Tanev (lower body) and C Adam Lowry (upper body) both skated Tuesday morning but did not play. ... Winnipeg is 7-0 with a 35-9 goal differential when playing a team for the second time in a week's span this season.

UP NEXT

Jets: Visit Chicago on Friday night.

Sabres: Host Columbus on Thursday night.

Couturier stays hot, Flyers drop Sabres 4-1 for 3rd straight

By MIKE CRANSTON
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Barely a month removed from a 10-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers have climbed back into playoff contention.

They can thank the high-scoring trio of Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek.

Couturier scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and added an empty-netter to put it away and the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 on Sunday for their third straight victory.

The Flyers (19-15-8) entered their NHL-mandated five-day break in a logjam with Carolina, the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh for the second wild-card spot.

"It reveals what you have in terms of leadership inside of the locker room," coach Dave Hakstol said of how the team bounced back from their 0-5-5 stretch.

"They had the right response, day after day, through a real hard time, believed in themselves and found a way to dig out of a hole."

Couturier took a feed from Giroux on the power play and scored from the left dot at 7:17 of the second period to snap a 1-all tie. Giroux, who entered third in the NHL in points, earned his 52nd.

Couturier's goal with 1:15 left provided a cushion and Ivan Provorov's empty-netter with 33 seconds left gave the Flyers 16 goals in three games.

It's been quite a week for Couturier, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) in a 6-4 win over the Islanders on Thursday and scored two goals in Saturday's 6-3 win over St. Louis.

Couturier has a career-high 23 goals, and his 42 points are three more than his previous best season.

"I probably wouldn't have thought I would have that many early on, but I'm just doing whatever I can to help the team," Couturier said. "Obviously playing with (Giroux) he's a great passer and I just try to find the open areas."

Voracek, the anchor of the second line, showed off his passing by collecting two more assists to give him an NHL-high 43.

Shayne Gostisbehere also scored and Michal Neuvirth stopped 30 shots as the Flyers got even for a Dec. 22 defeat in Buffalo.

Ryan O'Reilly scored and Robin Lehner made 25 saves for the Sabres, who finished a seven-game trip 1-4-2.

While most of Buffalo was focused on the Bills' 10-3 loss to Tennessee in their first NFL playoff game in 18 years, the last-place Sabres took a 1-0 lead on O'Reilly's power-play goal at 1:50 of the second period.

The Flyers tied it less than two minutes later on Gostisbehere's wrist shot at the end of tic-tac-toe passing by Scott Laughton and Jori Lehtera.

"We get that big power-play goal and then from that point we just changed the way we were playing for some reason," Sabres coach Phil Housley said.

Each goalie made a spectacular save. Neuvirth kept it scoreless with a glove snag of Sam Reinhart in the first period, and Lehner robbed Wayne Simmonds with his left arm to keep it 2-1 in the second.

Lehner crumpled to the ice after taking Robert Hagg's hard shot off his neck in third period. He was treated and stayed in the game.

"It took me a while to get the feeling back, but I'll be fine," Lehner said.

Neuvirth was sharp in his first start since Nov. 28, but will now get more time off as the Flyers won't practice again until Friday.

"It's always fun coming to the rink when you're winning," Couturier said. "But at the same time it's important to get a break and get ready for the last stretch of the year."

NOTES: The Sabres have been away while their arena hosted the world junior hockey championship. ... F Benoit Pouliot, a healthy scratch for the first time Friday, returned to the Sabres' fourth line ahead of Jordan Nolan. ... Flyers F Tyrell Goulbourne missed much of the second period with a broken skate, then was sent to Lehigh Valley of the AHL after the game. ... Flyers D Travis Sanheim was a healthy scratch for a fifth straight game.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Home on Tuesday vs. Winnipeg.

Flyers: Saturday at New Jersey.

Miller's OT goal lifts Rangers past Sabres in Winter Classic

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — J.T. Miller was in the perfect spot in front of the goal to take advantage of a rebound in overtime and keep the New York Rangers perfect in four regular season outdoor games.

Miller scored a power-play goal 2:43 into the extra period to lift the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday in the NHL’s 10th Winter Classic at Citi Field.

The Rangers went on the power play 2:15 into overtime when Jacob Josefson was whistled for tripping Jimmy Vesey. On the winner, Kevin Shattenkirk fired a shot that rebounded right to Miller, who put it in.

“Fortunate to get a good shot to the net,” Miller said. “Not too often they come right on the stick like that.”

Paul Carey and Michael Grabner scored in the first period for the Rangers, who improved to a league-best 4-0 in outdoor games during the season. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots to help New York improve to 6-2-3 in its last 11 overall.

“We talked about going into this game there’s no way you’re going to look back at this as a great memory if you don’t win,” said Lundqvist, who is 4-0-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average outdoors. “Now we got a big win and we can always look back at this game as a great experience.”

Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal and an assist, Sam Reinhart also scored and Kyle Okposo had two assists for the Sabres. Robin Lehner finished with 39 saves for Buffalo, which has just 10 wins this season but is 4-3-5 in its last 12 games.

“The first 10 minutes were not very good, we were kind of dipping our toe in,” Okposo said. “Once we calmed down and played our game, we played well. So I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way we played.”

The game, played at the home of baseball’s New York Mets, was on the 10th anniversary of the Sabres’ 2-1 shootout loss to Pittsburgh in Buffalo in the first Winter Classic. This was also the league’s 24th regular season outdoor game.

Lundqvist made a sensational save on an attempt by Zemgus Girgensons with 2:12 remaining to keep the score tied.

“It was a fun game to play,” Lundqvist said. “Overall, I thought we were the better team, but we took a lot of penalties that put us on our heels a little bit.”

The national anthem was performed by the Every Voice Choirs, a New York City-based group of children born in 2008, the year of the first Winter Classic. The Goo Goo Dolls, a rock band that started in the Buffalo area, performed during the first intermission.

Despite the official temperature at puck drop at 20.5 degrees, the game drew a sellout crowd of 41,821.

“It was loud, the crowd was behind both teams,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. “It was great for us to find a way to come through in overtime.”

There was a shadow across about half the ice lengthwise at the start of the game. By the middle of the opening period, the shadow was at least partially covering about two-thirds of the ice, with the team benches in sun along the outfield edge and facing where home plate usually sits. The playing surface was completely in the shade at the start of the second period, except for the side boards to Lehner’s right on the first base side of the field.

The Sabres trailed 2-0 after one period before Reinhart cut the deficit in half 56 seconds into the second period on a rebound of Ristolainen’s shot.

Shortly before that, Lehner made a stellar stop on a short-handed breakaway by Grabner that would’ve given the Rangers a three-goal lead.

The Sabres tied it 27 seconds into the third as Ristolainen fired a wrist shot off a pass from Ryan O’Reilly.

“We got the momentum back,” Lehner said. “We start working hard, they start taking penalties. We got back to the game. Unfortunately we got a penalty there (in overtime).”

New York got on the scoreboard at 4:09 of the first as Carey got a pass from Jesper Fast and fired it past Lehner from straightaway.

Grabner made it 2-0 at 8:20. Marc Staal sent the puck of Lehner’s back as he spun around and skated past the left side of the goal, and it came to Grabner at the right side and he put it in for his 18th of the season.

NOTES: Lundqvist also got his 423rd career victory, tying Tony Esposito for eighth place all-time on the NHL’s career list. ... Lundqvist, McDonagh and Staal have played in each of the Rangers’ four regular season outdoor games. ... Buffalo LW Benoit Pouliot played in his fifth outdoor game, tying Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brad Richards, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews for the most. Pouliot previously appeared in two Heritage Classic games — for Montreal on Feb. 20, 2011, and Edmonton on Oct. 23, 2016 — and the Rangers’ Stadium Series games in Jan. 2014. ... The Sabres gave up a home game to be in this one since the Rangers are contractually obligated to play all their home games at Madison Square Garden for a tax exemption. ... Rangers coach Alain Vigneault earned his 635th win, breaking a tie with Darryl Sutter for sole possession of 11th place on the NHL’s all-time list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host Chicago on Wednesday night

Sabres: At Minnesota on Thursday night in the fifth game of a stretch of seven straight away from Buffalo.

DeBrusk, Khudobin send Bruins to 3-0 win over Sabres

By MATTHEW FAIRBURN
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- This time, the Boston Bruins had to win the hard way.

Jake DeBrusk scored for the second straight night, Anton Khudobin turned away 36 shots and Boston blanked the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Tuesday.

Tim Schaller and David Backes added empty-net goals in the closing minutes as the Bruins won for the seventh time in 10 games. After a 7-2 victory over Columbus on Monday, the Bruins held off the Sabres in a low-scoring affair that included defenseman Kevan Miller getting into a fight and two crucial blocked shots by Noel Acciari.

"In the third, on the road, in a back-to-back, usually a team's going to have a push and, I don't want to be disrespectful, I don't know if (the Sabres) had a true sustained push," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said.

The Bruins came out flat in the first period, getting outshot 17-10. But they got a needed emotional boost when Miller dropped the gloves with Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian and won the fight easily.

"Whenever something like that happens it wakes the guys up, kind of gets them going," Miller said. "I don't think we were playing that bad at that point but I think it's something that kind of sparks guys sometimes."

Buffalo threatened to get on the board first in the second period, but Khudobin made a pad save on Evander Kane to keep the game scoreless. Then with 9:46 remaining in the period, DeBrusk carried the puck into the Sabres zone and fired a wrist shot over Robin Lehner's shoulder.

DeBrusk has goals in consecutive games and four points in his last two.

"There's ups and downs for everybody, but obviously the last two games, things have gone my way," DeBrusk said. "I'm just trying to keep building."

With less than two minutes to go in the second, the Sabres narrowly missed capitalizing on two scoring chances. First, Kyle Okposo was late passing to Benoit Pouliot on an odd-man rush. Moments later, Pouliot had his shot blocked by Acciari after Khudobin allowed a big rebound.

"You need to have those types of guys in the room," Cassidy said of Acciari's shot blocking. "They're just good soldiers. It's very much appreciated the hits he takes and the hits he gives and the shot blocks. All those little things that make a team of character."

Khudobin stopped all 10 shots by the Sabres in the third to earn his first shutout of the season. The Bruins are 8-2-2 when Khudobin starts, and they needed him to stop 17 first-period shots.

"We need moments like this," Khudobin said. "Back-to-back, maybe legs are heavy in the first period. That's why I got the work. Moved a little bit more than usual, maybe, but everything went well.

"I'm glad I didn't get scored on."

NOTES: Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Bruins are 219-13-15 when they carry a lead into the third period. ... Bruins forward David Krejci missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... The Sabres activated Jacob Josefson from injured reserve. He missed nine games with an ankle injury. ... The Sabres have been shut out four times in their last 11 games and have 17 goals in that span.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday in the opener of a three-game homestand.

Sabres: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday in the finale of a three-game homestand.

Sabres hope effort translates into win vs. Bruins

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Consistency remains a problem for the Buffalo Sabres as they look to turn things around for good.

Buffalo will look to put forth a more consistent effort on Tuesday night in a nationally-televised home game against the Boston Bruins.

The Sabres (8-18-7) are coming off one of their better offensive efforts of the season on Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes. In that game, former second overall pick Jack Eichel delivered his first career hat trick but the Sabres ultimately came up short in a 5-4 overtime defeat.

Those outcomes are the story of the season in recent weeks for Buffalo. After a dreadful stretch in November that saw Buffalo lose 11 of 12 games, the Sabres have been better as of late but have yet to see it pay off in the standings.

Buffalo has points in five of its last six games but has also lost four of its last five games (1-1-3).

"There was a lot of good things, but at the end of the day, we only get one point," Eichel said after the loss to Carolina. "It stings a little bit.

"It's not good enough to get a point. It seems like it's been the reoccurring theme here of late. We've had good effort and put ourselves in games and had opportunities to win and we're coming out with overtime losses."

Sabres coach Phil Housley continues to stress consistency, structure and urgency in Buffalo's play on the ice.

"It's just those little details and I continue to talk about it, our play without the puck," Housley said. "It's that urgency that something bad could happen, and (against Carolina) it did."

With 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists), Eichel is second on the team in scoring. Evander Kane (14 goals, 17 assists) has been Buffalo's best and most consistent player this year and leads Buffalo in scoring.

One bright spot for Buffalo has been the play of goalie Robin Lehner, who has really come on as of late. Lehner has a save percentage of .911 in 25 games played this year.

The Sabres could get some help sometime this week as Jacob Josefson looks to return from an ankle injury. Josefson has missed much of the season due to injury but has performed well as a depth player when in the lineup.

Boston (16-10-5) is entering a busy period of the schedule; the Bruins are in the middle of a stretch of three games in four days and seven games in 10 days.

The Bruins head to Buffalo following a big 7-2 win over Columbus on Monday night at home. Improving on the power play was a focal point after struggling in a Saturday overtime loss to the New York Rangers and the Bruins came up with two power-play goals in the second period against Columbus to open the flood gates on offense.

"It was good to get the first goal," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after his team scored the first three goals. "It's always an advantage, especially at home, to get the other team chasing the game."

Charlie McAvoy scored a power-play goal and added an assist. Fellow Bruins rookies Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk played key roles with a goal and two assists.

Heinen has four goals and nine points in the last seven games.

David Pastrnak leads the Bruins in scoring with 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists); Brad Marchand is second in scoring with 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists). Both Tuukka Rask (.912 save percentage) and Anton Khudobin (.915 save percentage) have excelled between the pipes.

Flyers edge Sabres for fifth straight victory

PHILADELPHIA -- During their 10-game losing streak last month, the Philadelphia Flyers couldn't find a way to win a one-goal game, losing six of them during that stretch.

The Flyers (13-11-7) have been far more decisive in close games since and Thursday night, they won for the fifth straight time, carving out a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

"I think it was a boring game," said Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek, who set up Valtteri Filppula's game-winning goal late in the second period. "It wasn't fun to watch."

Defenseman Travis Sanheim netted his first NHL goal and goaltender Brian Elliott turned aside 19 shots to improve his career record against Buffalo to 12-1-2.

Ryan O'Reilly scored the only goal for the Sabres, who saw their modest four-game points streak (2-0-2) come to an end. Goaltender Robin Lehner made 25 saves for Buffalo (8-18-6), which has the NHL's second-worst record behind Arizona.

The Sabres have scored one or fewer goals in 12 of their 32 games this season and rank last in the NHL with 68 goals in 32 games (2.1 per game).

"We've got to find a way to find the back of the net more," said Sabres center Jack Eichel, who was held without a shot for only the second time this season and was held without a point for the 13th time. "We had our chances. I don't think our execution was where it should be."

Elliott was a big reason the Sabres didn't have more Thursday night. After a rocky start, he made several key saves in the third period, including two stops on Evander Kane.

The Flyers entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, thanks to Filppula's eighth goal of the season with 2:33 remaining in the second. The 33-year-old veteran took a nice feed from Voracek and roofed a shot over Lehner. It was only the fourth goal in the last 25 games for Filppula, who started the season with four in his first seven contests.

It was also the 31st assist of the season for Voracek, who is among the league leaders in that category.

"It was a nice pass," Filppula said. "Jake made a good play to me and I was happy to see it go in."

Elliott had trouble handling the puck in the opening period. His clearing attempt from behind the net was intercepted by Zemgus Girgensons, who quickly fed O'Reilly for an open netter. It was O'Reilly's eighth goal of the season and first in 13 games.

A few minutes later Elliott again gave the puck away, this time to Sam Reinhart, whose open-net attempt kicked off the skate of Flyers center Nolan Patrick.

"They came hard and there was a little miscommunication," said Elliott, who benefited from 19 blocked shots, including five from Andrew MacDonald. "A bad play on my part. That can go sideways in a hurry, but we sorted it out."

Flyers coach Dave Hakstol agreed, saying his team might have had trouble handling an early goal against the way they did Thursday.

"It is different now," Hakstol said. "You can take a punch a little better when you have a little swagger to your game."

Immediately after Patrick's skate save on Reinhart, the Flyers quickly broke down the ice and Sanheim snapped a shot over the right shoulder of Lehner for his first NHL goal in his 28th NHL game.

"Obviously, it was a long time coming, but it's exciting to get my first one," Sanheim said.

Lehner was upset about the goal after the game, calling it "unfortunate."

"I kind of slipped on their first goal and lost my balance," Lehner said. "Now we've got to go back home and win tomorrow."

NOTES: Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen entered the game leading Buffalo in average ice time (27:07), hits (68) and blocked shots (44). Only Minnesota Wild D Ryan Suter has averaged more ice time per game (27:23). ... The Sabres return home to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and the Flyers on Dec. 22. ... LW Michael Raffl played in his 300th NHL game, all as a Flyer. ... Philadelphia continues its five-game homestand Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. They'll face the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday before a four-game road trip.

Sabres hold off Senators

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo and Benoit Pouliot scored to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Buffalo has points in its last four games (2-0-2) after losing 11 of 12 games (1-9-2). Robin Lehner made 24 saves.

Cody Ceci and Derick Brassard scored for the Senators (9-13-7), who have lost 12 of their past 13 games. Mike Condon made 23 saves.

Following a scoreless and uneventful first period, the Sabres (8-17-6) broke things open early in the second period with two goals in a span of 1:12.

Pouliot opened the scoring on an excellent one-man effort 4:13 into the second. Pouliot skated around Brassard before sliding a backhand pass through Condon's legs. It was Pouliot's eighth goal of the season.

Okposo made it 2-0 at 5:25 of the second. Center Ryan O'Reilly spotted Okposo cutting into the slot and fed him with a backhand pass from the outside. Okposo buried a one-timer for his fifth goal of the year.

Kane made it 3-0 with 7:27 remaining in the second on a power-play goal. With Zack Smith in the penalty box for hooking, Rasmus Ristolainen spotted Kane inside the right circle for a one-timer and Kane put home his team-best 14th goal of the season.

Ceci got the Senators on the board 6:43 into the third period on his own rebound opportunity. After his initial shot from the slot hit the post, Ceci buried the rebound for his third goal of the year.

Brassard cut Buffalo's lead to one with 51.4 seconds remaining on a long shot from the right point.

A pivotal moment in the game came midway through the second period when the Senators had a two-man advantage for 58 seconds. Ottawa had several quality chances on net but all were rebuffed by Lehner and the Sabres' defense.

NOTES: RW Hudson Fasching, D Nathan Beaulieu and D Victor Antipin were scratched for the Sabres. ... D Thomas Chabot was scratched for the Senators. ... This was the first of four meetings this season. The next meeting takes place Feb. 14 in Ottawa. ... The Sabres have points in nine straight meetings against the Senators (7-0-2) for the first time in the all-time series between both teams. ... G Robin Lehner was a second-round pick (46th overall) of the Senators in 2009. He played in 86 games for Ottawa before being traded to the Sabres in 2015.

Sabres snap skid by beating Avalanche

DENVER -- Evander Kane was stopped on a great scoring opportunity early in the game, but given another chance in the third period, he didn't miss.

Kane scored a tiebreaking goal late in game, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Jack Eichel, Jake McCabe and Benoit Pouliot had a goal and an assist apiece, and Robin Lehner made 35 saves and for the Sabres (7-17-4).

"We played pretty good," said Lehner, who had several saves in the final two minutes when the Avalanche pulled goaltender Semyon Varlamov for an extra attacker. "This was a back-and-forth game, and we gave them some momentum with the penalties. They had some good grade-A chances."

Nathan MacKinnon scored two power-play goals, Alexander Kerfoot had two assists and Varlamov stopped 31 shots for Colorado. The Avalanche (12-12-2) have lost three straight and dropped four of five on their homestand.

"We dug ourselves in a hole for sure," MacKinnon said. "We should have been better on this homestand. We didn't take advantage of what we had in front of us. Hopefully it doesn't bite us at the end of the season."

Buffalo has scored 60 goals this season, the fewest in the NHL and an average of 2.14 per game, and the Sabres were shut out three times during the four-game losing streak before breaking out against Colorado.

The Sabres also hadn't gotten a goal from a defenseman before Tuesday, but McCabe changed that with his first, which came with a bit of controversy.

McCabe beat Varlamov with a screened shot at 18:59 of the second, but the Avalanche challenged the play was offside. Replays showed the puck clearing the zone with two Buffalo players still below the blue line as Johan Larsson tipped it into the offensive zone.

After a review the goal was upheld, Colorado was assessed a delay-of-game minor, and the Sabres took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

"The hockey gods were on our side on that call, and hopefully the floodgates open up for us on the back end," McCabe said.

The NHL Situation Room sent out a tweet explaining the ruling: "All Sabres players tagged up at the blue line prior to Johan Larsson touching the puck in the offensive zone, rendering the play onside."

MacKinnon tied it with this 10th goal midway through the third period, but Kane got the go-ahead goal, his 13th, less than two minutes later to put the Sabres back in front.

Buffalo coach Phil Housley was happy his players didn't hang their heads after MacKinnon's second goal.

"Especially in the position we're in," he said. "It would be easy to get down and go in a different direction, but the guys fought the whole night."

Eichel scored into an empty net with 33 seconds left to ice it.

The Avalanche's poor homestand is similar to one that started their slide last year. They were 9-9-0 on Nov. 21, 2016, but an 0-4-1 homestand started a 4-24-2 stretch.

MacKinnon bristled at the comparison to last season.

"It's a new season, it's a new team," he said. "What does it have to do with last year?"

The Sabres scored first when Ryan O'Reilly, who had two assists, stole the puck on a Colorado power play and fed Pouliot for his seventh goal of the season at 5:32 of the second period.

MacKinnon tied it at 1-1 when he scored on Colorado' fourth power-play chance on a shot to the short side at 12:22 of the second.

NOTES: Buffalo C Scott Wilson had 14:19 of ice time a day after coming to the Sabres in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. ... Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog served the last contest of his four-game suspension for his crosscheck of Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk on Nov. 25. ... The Sabres waived F Matt Moulson on Monday, and the veteran cleared waivers on Tuesday. He is on loan to the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate. ... Colorado recalled F Rocco Grimaldi from San Antonio of the AHL on Monday. It is his second call-up of the season.

Moulson placed on waivers by Sabres

Forward Matt Moulson was placed on waivers by the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. If he is unclaimed by noon ET on Tuesday, he will be assigned to Rochester of the American Hockey League.

Moulson, 34, has no points, 13 shots on goal and a minus-9 rating in 14 games this season. He's been scratched 13 times.

"We talked quite a bit throughout the last two weeks," Sabres coach Phil Housley told the Buffalo News. "Just the direction that our team's going, we have to make roster spots and try to push some other buttons and try to get some internal competition within our team."

Moulson is in the fourth season of a five-year, $25 million contract, with an average annual value of $5 million. 

The Sabres have lost four straight games (0-4-0) and are last in the NHL with 16 points (6-17-4).

"Just with the position we're in we've got to make some decisions about our team and our lineup," Housley said. "Sometimes they're tough decisions. I think we need to focus as a group on our own game as an individual, but certainly these are the tough ones that you have to make in this business."

A three-time 30-goal scorer, Moulson has 369 points (176 goals, 193 assists) in 650 games in 11 NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild and Sabres.

Vasilevskiy gets shutout as Lightning snap two-game skid

By JONAH BRONSTEIN
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The NHL’s highest-scoring team leaned on its defense to snap a two-game losing streak.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves in his second shutout of the season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Dan Girardi in a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

“When you’re on a little bit of a slide, we’re just trying to get back to basics,” Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said. “Keep it simple, get pucks to the net and get some of those dirty goals.”

Tampa Bay is off to the best start in franchise history (17-5-2) but had lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Vasilevskiy leads the NHL with 16 wins and has six career shutouts in 101 starts.

“He’s one of, if not the best goalie in the world right now,” Johnson said.

Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots for the Sabres, who were held scoreless for the second straight game and have lost nine of 10.

“It wasn’t a bad performance but not good enough,” Lehner said. “Good enough is not enough right now. We need to claw back. We need to do something special.”

The Sabres pulled Lehner to gain an extra attacker for the final 4:09 of the game.

“We have to have some attitude when we start the game,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “This is our home rink. We’ve got to get out and establish a forecheck, show more emotion on the ice.”

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, the NHL’s leading scorer, went without a goal for the fifth straight game and has added just one point to his league-high tally during that stretch. Linemate Nikita Kucherov had an assist for his second point in five games and is now one point behind Stamkos for the NHL lead with 35.

“They’ve produced at such a high rate, there are going to be games or little spurts where you’re not going to get a point,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “The big thing is we won the game and they didn’t score.”

Sergachev scored his sixth goal of the season on a power play to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead late in the first period. The rookie’s wrist shot from the right circle deflected in off the stick of Buffalo’s Johan Larsson.

Tampa Bay has scored a power-play goal in nine of its last 10 games and leads the NHL in conversion rate.

Girardi, the longtime New York Rangers defenseman, got his first goal with the Lightning midway through the second period. His slap shot from the top of the right circle bounced in off Buffalo’s Marco Scandella.

“That’s in our game plan. You have to get your ‘D’ involved,” Cooper said. “But I liked that Stammer was at the net and that’s what you have to do. You have to take away the goalie’s eyes.”

NOTES: Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen went to the locker room late in the second period after being shoved into the net by Tampa Bay’s Braydon Coburn but was able to return. “He got a little stinger there but was fine coming back,” Housley said. Ristolainen was playing in his third game after missing nine with an upper-body injury. ... Lightning F J.T. Brown missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... The Sabres have not gotten a goal from a defenseman all season. ... The Lightning have beaten the Sabres in five straight meetings and are 8-0-1 in their last nine trips to Buffalo. ... The Sabres went scoreless on three power-play chances and are now 0 for 18 over the past seven games.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Boston on Wednesday night.

Sabres: Host Pittsburgh on Friday night.

Sabres unveil 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic uniform

Our #WinterClassic jersey 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eoAw5JQ9Po

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 22, 2017

By Sabres PR

The Buffalo Sabres today unveiled the team's uniform for the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® outdoor regular-season game against the New York Rangers at Citi Field in New York on Jan. 1, 2018.

The uniform combines design concepts from the franchise's early years with modifications of the team's current logo and elements from the team's 40th anniversary jersey to create a unique look that recalls the Sabres' 48 years of history.

"The NHL Winter Classic is a celebration of hockey's rich history and we wanted our jersey to signify that with a tribute to the early days of Sabres hockey," Sabres President Russ Brandon said. "This uniform combines our franchise's great historical look with some new elements to celebrate the uniqueness of the event."

Buffalo will wear a primarily white jersey with blue and gold accents and a slightly modified version of the team's traditional crest, which features a charging buffalo between two crossed swords. In addition to minor illustration adjustments to the logo's buffalo and swords, the initials "NY" have been added as a marker of the interstate matchup. The crest itself is executed in felt and faux leather materials as a nod to historical "hockey sweater" material construction.

The shoulders and collar are contrasted in blue, which is in line with many of the team's past white uniforms, and the collar is executed in a modern adaptation of sweater knit rib material. The blue throughout the uniform has shifted from the Sabres' current navy blue to a royal blue reflective of the team's original color scheme from the 1970s. The jersey striping was inspired by the team's 40th anniversary uniform. However, when applied to the white body, each pair of blue stripes has a contrasting gold stripe between them instead of the white ground color.

The pants are also blue, matching those of classic Sabres uniforms, and feature a vertical gold stripe along the sides. The white accent pant stripe from previous uniforms has been removed to better align the color patterning to the jersey and sock color patterning.

In addition to the crest, the uniform features three secondary marks. The first is a newly designed shoulder patch that has abstracted the Buffalo from the crest and filled it with the team's name, and is executed in a throwback chenille material. The second is a pair of crossed swords, also abstracted from the crest. This mark, which appears on the pants, has featured on Buffalo's helmet in recent years. Lastly, the Buffalo script wordmark featured on the team's 40th anniversary jersey is located on the helmet.

The jersey's number design is derivative of the one worn on the team's 40th anniversary uniform. The numbers on the official game jerseys are executed in felt with unique tonal stitching detail, in homage to how numbers were applied in the early days of hockey. Nameplate letterforms were inspired by the ones the team wore on their uniforms in the mid-1970s.

The Sabres will face the Rangers in the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® on New Year's Day at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The game will be broadcast live on NBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports at 1 p.m. ET. The 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® continues the tradition the League established in 2008 of hosting a regular-season outdoor game at the onset of the new year, with this year's edition marking the 10-year anniversary of the first NHL Winter Classic® in Buffalo. Fans can join the conversation on social media by including the hashtag NHL #WinterClassic.

Blue Jackets top Sabres 3-2 for 4th straight win

By JONAH BRONSTEIN
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets keep finding ways to win close games.

Sergei Bobrovsky made three of his 30 saves on a power play in the final two minutes, and the Blue Jackets beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.

Rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets. Markus Nutivaara had two assists.

Columbus had a 1-0 lead entering the third period in each of its last four victories. The Sabres made a late push, but the Blue Jackets held on.

“It doesn’t matter how you finish,” Bobrovsky said. “The most important part is the end result and we got two points.”

Bobrovsky made his biggest save when he slid across the crease to kick away a Ryan O’Reilly one-timer with 1:49 remaining. Bobrovsky got a piece of Kyle Okposo’s shot off the rebound and the puck trickled across the goal line while Okposo fell into the net.

Officials blew the whistle before the puck crossed the line, and the decision remained in place after a video review.

“That’s no goal,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “And if they call it a goal, it’s goalie interference.”

Buffalo dropped its sixth straight game. Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres, and Robin Lehner stopped 25 shots.

Sabres coach Phil Housley shuffled his lines, putting star center Jack Eichel with third-line wings Jason Pominville and Zemgus Girgensons and sending the group out for the second shift.

Housley downplayed the switch, saying it was not a demotion for Eichel, who had one point in the previous 11 games. Eichel led the Sabres with five shots on goal and assisted on Kane’s goal. He was on the ice for 20:54, up from his 20:37 average that leads Sabres forwards.

“Jack was very determined tonight and you could see it,” Housley said. “I really liked the speed that Jack brought tonight.”

The Blue Jackets scored first for the fifth straight game when Dubois collected a loose puck in the slot and lifted a wrist shot over Lehner four minutes into the second period. Oliver Bjorkstrand set up Dubois’ third goal of the season with a pass from behind the net.

Panarin scored his fifth on a high wrist shot from the right circle 5:47 into the third. Jenner added his third goal of the year on a play in front of the net midway through the period.

Buffalo battled back in the final 11 minutes.

“I am not going to pick apart the team,” Tortorella said. “It’s just a natural thing that happens when you get up three goals, you just give a little bit. Quite honestly, when you end up winning the game, I think it’s good the team goes through it.”

Reinhart scored 13 seconds after Jenner’s goal, deflecting in Victor Antipin’s shot from the point to end a 117-minute shutout streak for Bobrovsky. Kane scored his 12th of the season on a wrist shot from the left circle with 3:32 remaining.

“I know we’re capable of playing like that,” Kane said. “It’s a mindset. It’s an attitude. . We score two goals tonight but we didn’t get our first goal until the 10-minute mark of the third period. So we’re not creating enough offensively.”

NOTES: Blue Jackets D David Savard returned to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch in Friday’s win over the New York Rangers. ... Blue Jackets C Lukas Sedlak is close to returning. Sedlak has missed 13 games with a high-ankle sprain. ... The Sabres have not allowed a goal on 26 opponent power plays at home this season. ... Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno has gone 12 games without a point, tying for the second-longest streak of the forward’s career. His last point came when he scored in a win over Buffalo on Oct. 25. ... The Blue Jackets are 10-1 when allowing two goals or less.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Host Calgary on Wednesday night.

Sabres: Host Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Tatar goal lifts Red Wings past Sabres

DETROIT -- Call them dirty goals, greasy goals, even garbage goals, they are the types of tallies that haven't been a part of the Detroit Red Wings' game plan in recent years. 

That situation, though, appears to be changing.

The Wings scratched and clawed their way to a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, and they did so by doing the sorts of things they aren't known for as a team -- throwing pucks to the net, gaining a net-front presence and cashing in on second-chance scoring opportunities.

These are the sorts of tactics coach Jeff Blashill has been demanding of his team for some time, and it finally looks like they are buying into what he's selling.

"No question, it's how you score in this league for the most part," Blashill said. "You have to score dirty. It's just the reality of the league. I think we've done a way better job of having bodies at the net, throwing pucks at the net from the side, making sure we're shooting, having a shot-first mentality when you can.

"It doesn't mean you can't make plays, but let's have a shot-first mentality. I think we've done a good job creating chaos."

Luke Glendening, Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin scored for the Wings (10-8-2), who snapped a four-game losing streak against Buffalo. Ryan O'Reilly replied for the Sabres (5-10-4), who are winless in four games (0-2-2).

"We are embarrassed by this," O'Reilly said. "We have to play with a much better effort than we showed tonight."

All of Detroit's goals arrived in similar fashion, via hard work and determination.

"Especially in a game like this, those are the goals you're probably going to get," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We got them here tonight and that was good."

Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, who shut out the Red Wings 1-0 on Oct. 24, looked to have Detroit's number again. Glendending finally solved him on the Red Wings' 21st shot of the night, ending Lehner's shutout sequence against Detroit at 126:11.

Glendening won a puck battle with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe behind the Buffalo net, chipping it across to Darren Helm. Helm brought the puck out from back of the net and fed a cross-crease pass to Glendening.

Lehner (30 saves) got a pad on Glendening's shot, but he fired the rebound past Lehner.

"We were sticking with the program," Glendening said. "And we had a good third in response to their goal. We came back with two.

"That's what you need to do."

The Sabres tied it 5:50 into the third period. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard (19 saves) stopped Victor Antipin's shot, but the rebound when right to O'Reilly, who snapped the puck into the net.

Tatar's fifth of the season, just 2:46 after O'Reilly's goal, proved to be the game winner.

With Wings forward Justin Abdelkader screening Lehner, Tatar's long wrist shot from just inside the blue line banked off the top of Lehner's pad and into the net.

"I don't know who stands in front, I'm guessing it was Abby," Tatar said. "Big thanks. (Lehner) probably didn't see much and I was fortunate to get the puck in."

Larkin added an insurance goal with 4:06 left in regulation. Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet shot from an odd angle and Larkin slammed the rebound past Lehner.

"That was great work by my linemates," Larkin said. "Tats (Tatar) was right there in front. If he's not there, that puck doesn't bounce there and if X doesn't shoot the puck it doesn't get to me."

Sabres coach Phil Housley echoed O'Reilly's sentiments and was displeased by his team's performance.

"We didn't have any discipline and we didn't have any effort," Housley said. "We got outworked, outplayed and outhustled.

"We were slow tonight, and that's not acceptable."

NOTES: Red Wings D Trevor Daley, who left Wednesday's game against Calgary with an upper-body injury, was back in the lineup. ... D Brian Lashoff, called up from AHL Grand Rapids, made his season debut for the Red Wings. ... D/RW Luke Witkowski served the first of a 10-game NHL suspension for returning to the ice to rejoin a fight after he was removed from the game by officials. ... RW Martin Frk (groin) and D Danny DeKeyser (ankle) were out with injuries. ... LW David Booth was a healthy scratch. ... D Casey Nelson and LW Matt Moulson were healthy scratches for the Sabres. ... The Sabres list six players on injured reserve -- D Matt Tennyson, Taylor Fedun, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian, LW Evan Rodrigues and C Jacob Josefson. ... Dean Morton, one of two NHL referees assigned to the game, played one game for the Red Wings in 1989-90 and scored a goal. He's the only player to do that in the history of the franchise. ... Sabres C Kyle Criscuolo, who made his NHL debut, won a Calder Cup title last season with Detroit's Grand Rapids farm club.