Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres scored early and often in their return to action on Saturday, as they dominated the visiting New York Rangers, 8-2, at KeyBank Center.
Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Ryan McLeod all scored twice for Buffalo, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 26 shots in the victory.
The Sabres got on the board just moments after puck drop, as Jack Quinn scored just 1:46 into the first period, sneaking a shot through the pads of Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Midway through the period, the Sabres extended the lead as Rasmus Dahlin deflected a point shot from Jordan Greenway to make it 2-0, Buffalo.
The goals kept coming in the opening period, as Tage Thompson got in on the action by taking the puck to the net from the corner, overpowering the Rangers defense to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead.
Just two minutes later, Ryan McLeod extended the Buffalo lead to 4-0 on a shot from the point through traffic.
Then less than a minute later on the power play, Dahlin capped off the big first period for the Sabres with a nice move from the point to get into open space to make it 5-0.
That goal signaled the end of the day for Shesterkin, as he was replaced by Jonathan Quick in goal.
Buffalo had a chance to extend their big lead right away in the second, as Reilly Smith took a four-minute high-sticking penalty. The Sabres failed to convert with the man advantage.
Minutes later, the Rangers got on the board with a power play goal of their own with Beck Malenstyn in the penalty box for tripping.
Chris Kreider made it a 5-1 contest with a redirection at the side of the net.
New York made it a 5-2 game midway through the second, as Mika Zibanejad deflected a rebound out of the air shortly after another power play chance for the Rangers.
The Sabres came out firing in the third period, though, with two goals in just over five minutes.
The first of the period came from Thompson for his second goal of the game, as he snuck one through the pads of Quick to make it 6-2.
Then just moments later, it was McLeod getting his second of the night, breaking in alone on goal to give Buffalo a 7-2 lead.
In the final minute of regulation, defenseman Henri Jokiharju capped off a big night for the Sabres with a wrist shot to secure the 8-2 victory.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 1:46 - Jack Quinn (10) (Unassisted); 11:58 - Rasmus Dahlin (8) (Jordan Greenway); 15:32 - Tage Thompson (27) (Unassisted); 17:33 - Ryan McLeod (13) (Rasmus Dahlin, Jason Zucker); 18:21 - Rasmus Dahlin (9) PPG (Tage Thompson, Jason Zucker)
NYR: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
NYR: 5:29 - Chris Kreider (17) PPG (Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller); 11:25 - Mika Zibanejad (12) (Adam Fox, J.T. Miller)
Third Period:
BUF: 3:47 - Tage Thompson (28) (Jiri Kulich); 5:40 - Ryan McLeod (14) (Jason Zucker, Owen Power); 19:24 - Henri Jokiharju (2) (Zach Benson, Dennis Gilbert)
NYR: NONE
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
2.) Tage Thompson - BUF
3.) Ryan McLeod - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres welcome the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday to KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo. Faceoff is slated for 7 p.m. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550, starting with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. with Brian Koziol.