Nashville, Tennessee (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The miniature two-game road bump is in the rearview for the Buffalo Sabres. Fueled by a three-goal first period, the blue and gold took care of the Nashville Predators by a final score of 5-3 at Bridgestone Arena.
It was the Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius show in the first period of play. The tandem terrorized the Nashville defense to the tune of five points; two goals from Ostlund, plus two assists and a goal for Helenius.
Ostlund tallied his second-career multi-goal game, while Helenius' first helper was his first-career point in the National Hockey League.
Then in the late goings of the frame, Helenius added to his busy night in an impressive way. He showed off an incredible shot from the slot to post his third point of the game, and checked off another box of NHL-firsts in the process.
The onslaught continued early in the middle stanza. Tage Thompson let the kids have their fun in the first, but it was time the veteran sniper got involved. His 26th goal of the campaign made it a 4-0 contest.
Thompson's goal was also the last shot goalie Juuse Saros would face for Nashville, as he was pulled in favor of backup Justus Annunen.
At about the halfway point of the period, though, Nashville dialed up the pressure. One possession lasted nearly three-minutes in the Sabres' defensive end. Along the way, veteran forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg potted goals to trim the Buffalo lead in half, at 4-2.
Nashville crept closer 9:30 into the third period of play, and were officially within one when O'Reilly found twine once again.
Down the other end of the ice, a Jack Quinn shot went wide into the corner. O'Reilly gobbled the puck up, and turned defense into offense as the puck traded hands in the neutral zone between linemates Luke Evangelista and Forsberg. It was then returned to O'Reilly to bury the Predators' third unanswered goal of the evening.
Fortunately for the Sabres, Nashville's run ended at three. With Annunen pulled from his net, the blue and gold brought in "the closer", Peyton Krebs to seal the deal with his soon-to-be patented empty-net goal.
It was Krebs' fifth goal of the season, and gave the team much-needed breathing room to close out the 5-3 win.
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SCORING RECAP:
First Period:
BUF: 8:11 - Noah Ostlund (8) (Konsta Helenius, Rasmus Dahlin); 11:45 - Noah Ostlund (9) (Konsta Helenius, Owen Power); 17:24 - Konsta Helenius (1) (Peyton Krebs)
NSH: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 4:20 - Tage Thompson (26) (Alex Tuch, Josh Doan)
NSH: 10:09 - Ryan O'Reilly (17) (Filip Forsberg, Brady Skjei); 11:54 - Filip Forsberg (19) (Ryan O'Reilly)
Third Period:
BUF: 18:14 - Peyton Krebs (5) ENG (Mattias Samuelsson)
NSH: 9:30 - Ryan O'Reilly (18) (Luke Evangelista, Filip Forsberg)
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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1. Konsta Helenius - BUF
2. Noah Ostlund - BUF
3. Ryan O'Reilly - NSH
What's Next:
The blue and gold head to Bell Centre to visit the Montreal Canadiens for their second of three meetings this month. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. EST on Thursday night, January 22. Tune in to WGR Sports Radio 550 to hear Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.