Anaheim, Calif. (WGR 550) - 44 shots and seven goals later, the Buffalo Sabres were able to put their four-game winless streak to rest in Anaheim with a 7-3 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night at Honda Center.
The blue and gold opened the scoring a little over six minutes into the contest. Tyson Jost fired a shot from the goal line that trickled into the net off the pad of Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal.
Later in the first period, the Sabres extended their lead to 2-0 on a power play. Tage Thompson wired a one-timer from his office past Dostal for hiss 36th goal of the season.
The Ducks answered back in the second period with two goals in quick succession from a pair of their defenseman. First, it was Kevin Shattenkirk who grabbed his first goal of the season with help from forward Trevor Zegras. 71 seconds later, Cam Fowler's eighth of the campaign made it a 2-2 contest.
Anaheim took their first lead 5:20 later when Fowler again struck for the Ducks. He found himself down low in a play and slammed home a loose puck by Eric Comrie to make it a 3-2 home side advantage.
The Sabres had a quick answer to Anaheim's tally, as 35 seconds later, Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs went to work in the Ducks zone. Krebs deposited his eighth goal of the season, second in two games, behind Dostal to even things up at 3-3.
The blue and gold re-established their lead before the end of the second period, courtesy of a great shot from Casey Mittelstadt. The forward skated into the Ducks zone towards his off-wing, before wiring his ninth goal of the season bar-down over the glove of Dostal.
6:13 into the third period of play, the Sabres scored themselves their first two-goal advantage since the first period. Seconds after a crucial penalty kill in a one-goal contest, Alex Tuch made amends for the minor penalty he took in the neutral zone. He flew out of the box and ripped his 25th goal of the season off a pass from Dylan Cozens.
The Sabres kept running away from the Ducks as the final period progressed. A brilliant passing play ended with Zemgus Girgensons' sixth goal of the season to make it a 6-3 lead for the blue and gold.
Later on with 1:07 to play, Dylan Cozens put a bow on a touchdown-worthy effort with the Sabres' seventh goal of the evening; his 19th of the year.
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GAME RECAP:
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 6:08 - Tyson Jost (5) (Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju): 15:58 - Tage Thompson (36) PPG (Rasmus Dahlin, Jeff Skinner)
ANA: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 13:43 - Peyton Krebs (8) (Jack Quinn, Kale Clague); 18:03 - Casey Mittelstadt (9) (Peyton Krebs, Mattias Samuelsson)
ANA: 6:37 - Kevin Shattenkirk (1) (Trevor Zegras, Derek Grant); 7:48 - Cam Fowler (8) (Dmitry Kulikov, Ryan Strome); 13:08 - Cam Fowler (9) (Derek Grant, Kevin Shattenkirk)
Third Period:
BUF: 6:13 - Alex Tuch (25) (Dylan Cozens, Kyle Okposo); 11:46 - Zemgus Girgensons (6) (Jack Quinn, Tyson Jost); 18:53 - Dylan Cozens (19) (Alex Tuch, Casey Mittelstadt)
ANA: NONE
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 18:09 - Henri Jokiharju (Roughing - 2 min.); 18:09 - Rasmus Dahlin (Roughing - 2 min.)
ANA: 3:46 - Kevin Shattenkirk (Cross-checking - 2 min.); 14:02 - Jakob Silfverberg (Hooking - 2 min.); 18:09 - Frank Vatrano (Roughing - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
ANA: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 4:06 - Alex Tuch (Hooking - 2 min.); 16:09 - Kale Clague (Cross-checking - 2 min.); 16:09 - Kale Clague (Misconduct - 10 min.)
ANA: 1:44 - Jakob Silfverberg (Hooking - 2 min.); 9:18 - Simon Benoit (High-sticking - 2 min.); 16:09 - Ryan Strome (Roughing - 2 min.); 16:09 - Ryan Strome (Misconduct - 10 min.); 16:43 - Frank Vatrano (Cross-checking - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
2.) Derek Grant - ANA
3.) Peyton Krebs - BUF
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What's next:
The blue and gold wrap up their tour of California in San Jose on Saturday night against the Sharks. Puck drop at SAP Center is set for 10:30 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9:30 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol.
