Denver, Colo. (WGR 550) - The first installment of "Sabres After Dark" this season did not go well for the Buffalo Sabres, as the Colorado Avalanche had their way with the blue and gold in a 5-1 win at Ball Arena.
The first 18-and-a-half-minutes of the game were dominated by the Avalanche. Colorado boasted a 15-0 shot advantage, and scored on 20% of those shots on goal.
Colorado benefited from goals by forwards Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichushkin and Miles Wood all in a span of about 12 minutes to take an early 3-0 advantage.
The Sabres were able to get a goal back before period's end.
On their second shot of the game with 1:22 remaining in the opening period, rookie Zach Benson hammered home a rebound in front of the Avalanche net to cut the deficit to 3-1 just before the intermission.
After a scoreless second period, Colorado tacked on two more goals in the third to cap the scoring at 5-1.
Defenseman Sam Malinski potted his first-career goal in the NHL to make it a 4-1 contest, and then Nichushkin added his second goal of the night to put Colorado in the driver's seat the rest of the way.
----------
SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 18:38 - Zach Benson (5) (Rasmus Dahlin, JJ Peterka)
COL: 5:25 - Mikko Rantanen (14) (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar); 10:28 - Valeri Nichushkin (11) (Fredrik Olofsson, Mikko Rantanen); 11:55 - Miles Wood (5) (Sam Malinski)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
COL: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
COL: 2:40 - Sam Malinski (1) (Jack Johnson, Jonathan Drouin); 13:11 - Valeri Nichushkin (12) PPG (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen)
----------
----------
Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Sam Malinski - COL
2.) Mikko Rantanen - COL
3.) Valeri Nichushkin - COL
----------
What's next:
The Sabres head to Las Vegas, Nevada for a Friday night battle with Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol and Paul Hamilton.