BUFFALO, NY - Josh Doan's goal less than a minute into the third period was the difference in the Buffalo Sabres' 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.
Neither team was able to score in the first period, in a low chance and low shot total period. Buffalo was credited with just two shots on goal in the opening period. They had the only power play of the period but failed to record a shot on the man advantage.
The Predators had six shots on goal in the first period. Alex Lyon started for Buffalo and stopped all six shots. Sam Carrick was acquired by the Sabres at the trade deadline on Friday. The veteran forward was on the ice for 3:09 in the first period.
Nashville was able to break the scoreless tie early in the second, just over a minute into the period on their first shot. Zachary L'Heureux was credited with his first goal in just his sixth game of the season to give the Predators a 1-0 lead over Buffalo.
Tage Thompson was able to even the score at 1-1 later in the period with his 34th goal of the season.
Alex Tuch helped create the play on a give-and-go play with Thompson. Tuch's pass across the ice to Thompson setup the score. He received the lone assist on the game-tying goal. It also extended Thompson's point streak to 10 games.
Just over a minute later Buffalo took a one-goal lead. It was also goals on back-to-back shots after Jusse Saros could not handle Jack Quinn's initial shot.
The goal was Jason Zucker's 17th of the season. Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin were credited with the assists on the goals.
The Sabres wasted little time adding to their lead, just 16 seconds into the third period.
Josh Norris made the pass that created the scoring chance for Josh Doan to convert on. The goal was Doan's 19th of the season in his first year in a Sabres' uniform. Norris and Noah Ostlund received the assists on the goal that gave Buffalo a 3-1 advantage.
Nashville was able to take advantage of a power play chance with less than five minutes left in regulation. Roman Josi used a slap shot from the blue line that beat Lyon to trim the deficit to 3-2 against the Sabres. It came with Quinn in the penalty box for interference.
Goal Summary
First Period
BUF: NONE
NSH: NONE
Second Period
BUF: 12:39 - Tage Thompson (34) (Alex Tuch). 14:17 - Jason Zucker (17) (Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin)
NSH: 1:17 - Zachary L'Heureux (1) (Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O'Reilly)
Third Period
BUF: 0:16 - Josh Doan (19) (Josh Norris, Noah Ostlund)
NSH: 16:08 - Matthew Wood (13) PPG (Roman Josi, Steven Stamkos)
BlueStar Home Services Three Stars of the Game
1. Alex Lyon - BUF
2. Josh Doan - BUF
3. Tage Thompson - BUF
What's Next
The Sabres are right back at it on Sunday night, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Atlantic Division showdown takes place at 6:00 p.m. on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network -WGR Sportsradio 550, starting with pregame at 5:00 p.m. with Brian Koziol.