St. Louis, Mo. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are now winners of three-straight decisions since kissing its 13-game winless streak goodbye. The Sabres skated into St. Louis on Sunday and doubled up the Blues, 4-2, at Enterprise Center.
Peyton Krebs got things going for the Sabres about seven minutes into the affair, as he directed a point pass from defenseman Bowen Byram into the back of the net for a 1-0 Buffalo lead.
At the 13:06 mark of the opening period, Tage Thompson struck with a blistering wrist shot on a power play opportunity. Jason Zucker fed Thompson driving down the slot, and his shot reached over 90 mph before reaching the back of the Blues net.
The Blues cut the Sabres' 2-0 lead in half with 4:13 remaining in the first period of play. With the teams skating at 4-on-4, captain Brayden Schenn jammed home a loose puck behind Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make it 2-1.
After a scoreless middle stanza, the Blues drew even six minutes into the third period. Forward Nathan Walker won a battle in front, and rammed the game-tying goal behind Lukkonen to tie the game at 2-2
The Sabres re-claimed the lead at the halfway point of the third period, after seemingly falling into a lull for a good period's time.
It was another power play strike for Buffalo, this time from Jason Zucker, who posted his 10th goal of the season after sneaking into the slot.
In the late stages of the final frame, Jiri Kulich went to work to put the Sabres back up by two goals. A phenomenal individual effort culminated in a tough-angle goal to extend Buffalo's edge to 4-2.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 6:52 - Peyton Krebs (4) (Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin); 13:06 - Tage Thompson (18) PPG (Jason Zucker, Jack Quinn)
STL: 15:47 - Brayden Schenn (6) (Colton Parayko, Jake Neighbours)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
STL: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 10:30 - Jason Zucker (10) PPG (Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson); 16:19 - Jiri Kulich (7) (Zach Benson, Mattias Samuelsson)
STL: 5:56 - Nathan Walker (4) (Colton Parayko, Alexey Toropchenko)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Jason Zucker - BUF
2.) Tage Thompson - BUF
3.) Colton Parayko - STL
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What's next:
The Sabres wrap up the 2024 calendar year in Dallas, Texas against the Stars on Tuesday at American Airlines Center. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.