St. Louis, Mo. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres played comeback in St. Louis on Monday night, overcoming a 2-1 second-period deficit to rally for three unanswered goals in a 4-2 win over the Blues at Enterprise Center.
The win marks the ninth-straight victory for the Sabres.
Buffalo opened the scoring early in the first period, as Josh Norris got the offense rolling with a clutch steal of the puck. Quickly, he located Noah Ostlund to make it 1-0, Buffalo, just 2:19 into the contest. The goal was Ostlund's seventh of the season.
St. Louis answered quickly, though, as veteran forward Brayden Schenn quickly brought the game back even with his eighth goal of the season.
Almost exactly three minutes later, the Blues went to the well once more.
The home side grabbed its first lead of the game when forward Jimmy Snuggerud potted his sixth goal of the season to make it 2-1, Blues.
Late in the second period, Alex Tuch made good on a prior goal reversal in the middle frame.
After being denied a goal for a kicking motion earlier in the period, Tuch wired his 12th goal of the season past St. Louis goalie Joel Hoefer to tie the score, 2-2.
Just 1:46 into the third period, the Sabres took the lead back thanks to an entire effort from the line of Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn and Zach Benson.
From the left corner, McLeod's centering pass was settled ever-so slightly by Quinn. The puck took flight, where Benson was able to bat home his fourth goal of the year to give the Sabres a 3-2 edge.
The Sabres were looking to put the game away for good on a late power play, but the Blues held strong to kill it off.
Shortly after returning to 5-on-5, St. Louis pulled Hofer for an extra-attacker. The Sabres survived a scare on a wild play, before finally icing the game thanks to an empty-net tally from forward Peyton Krebs.
The Blues skated out the final seconds in their own zone, putting a bow on a ninth-consecutive win for the Sabres.
Buffalo is now one win away from tying the franchise record of 10-straight wins, which would be the fourth time the team has reached that mark.
----------
SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 2:19 - Noah Ostlund (7) (Josh Norris)
STL: 5:08 - Brayden Schenn (8) (Otto Stenberg, Jordan Kyrou); 8:09 - Jimmy Snuggerud (6) (Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko)
Second Period:
BUF: 15:17 - Alex Tuch (12) (Mattias Samuelsson)
STL: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 1:46 - Zach Benson (4) (Jack Quinn, Ryan McLeod); 18:44 - Peyton Krebs (3) ENG (Beck Malenstyn)
STL: NONE
----------
----------
Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Zach Benson - BUF
2.) Joel Hofer - STL
3.) Alex Tuch - BUF
----------
What's next:
The Sabres continue their three-game road trip by heading to Dallas to visit the Stars on New Year's Eve. Puck drop at American Airlines Center is set for 8 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.