New York City, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are ready for their penultimate road game of the regular season. The opponent is the New York Rangers, with the venue being Madison Square Garden.
The Sabres opened the scoring just 4:40 into the opening period. Ryan McLeod did the work for the blue and gold, corralling a lead pass from Jason Zucker and flew in on goalie Igor Shesterkin. When McLeod deposited his 13th goal of the campaign, he snapped a personal 17-game goal drought in the process.
Just over four-minutes later, Zach Benson was in the right place at the right time. He was credited with a deflection of Rasmus Dahlin's point shot, good for his 11th goal of 2025-26.
On brand, Benson wreaks havoc in front
Just before period's end, though, the Rangers got on the board. With McLeod in the penalty box, forward Alexis Lafreniere tipped defenseman Adam Fox's slap-shot in behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The powerplay goal made it 2-1 Buffalo.
New York stormed all the way back in the early goings of the middle stanza. With just three-minutes gone, Rangers defenseman Drew Fortescue snatched the puck away from Josh Doan in the neutral zone. Fortescue then located Lafreniere, and sent his teammate in alone in a miniature breakaway. Lafreniere snapped the game-tying goal, high blocker side past Luukkonen and made it a 2-2 contest.
The Rangers kept humming later in the second period. Their second powerplay goal in as many opportunities came via the stick of defenseman Adam Fox. Using Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch as dueling screens in front, Fox wired the go-ahead goal home past a guessing Luukkonen.
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BUF: 4:40 - Ryan McLeod (13) (Jason Zucker, Connor Timmins); 8:58 - Zach Benson (11) (Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram)
NYR: 19:21 - Alexis Lafreniere (23) PPG (Adam Fox, JT Miller)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
NYR: 2:57 - Alexis Lafreniere (24) (Drew Fortescue); 14:44 - Adam Fox (9) PPG (Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad)
Third Period:
BUF:
NYR:
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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
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What's Next:
The blue and gold are back in action tomorrow night, April 9 hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puck drop at KeyBank Center is set for 7 p.m. ET with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.
