Ruotsalainen, Sabres defeat Coyotes in shootout

BUFFALO --The Buffalo Sabres won their second straight game to start the season with a 2-1 shootout victory against the Arizona Coyotes at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Cody Eakin scored, and Dustin Tokarski made 20 saves for the Sabres (2-0-0). Arttu Ruotsalainen scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
"You just want your guys to stay on it and stay with it. … I thought they did," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "I thought a credit to their goaltender (who) was real good and they were good defensively. They kind of anchored down a bit there. It was a little tougher than it may have looked as well. But, yeah, you definitely want to score when you see effort like that, you see them making plays. But you just got to stick with it, you can't get frustrated. And that's what we talked about after the second. No frustration."
Andrew Ladd scored his first goal since March 10, 2020, and Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves for the Coyotes (0-1-1) in his NHL debut.
"I try to not be nervous, but you know it's the first NHL game for me," Vejmelka said. "I was a little bit nervous, for sure. But after more of the shots, it was better. I felt better and better every minute of the game."
Ladd gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 13:51 of the first period. After Tokarski failed on a clearing attempt, Ryan Dzingel found Ladd in front for his 250th NHL goal.

"It's been a long road for me, two years," said Ladd, who played 35 games with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League the past two seasons and last played in the NHL with the New York Islanders in 2019-20. "Mentally, the last couple of years I think just trying to stay positive and having the goal in mind of coming back to play NHL hockey again. … To be able to get back to this point and feel that again was a proud moment for myself. Not even just for me, I think my wife and kids and family have been through a lot, and when things aren't going well on the hockey front, a lot of times they feel that on the home front. That's definitely for them."
Eakin scored on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 1:05 of the second period. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin sprung Drake Caggiula, who got a shot off while battling two Coyotes defenders, and Eakin followed up on the rebound in the final seconds of the man advantage.
"Team speed is one of the greatest things that you can play with," Eakin said. "When the D-men are jumping into the play, when we have outs all over the ice, we have guys following up. It allows opportunities to happen, spaces to open, and just constantly getting that pressure, getting the puck back. It takes five guys to do that in the offensive zone and to get the puck quick in the defensive zone. So, play with speed, good things happen for everyone."
NOTES:It was Eakin's first power-play goal since March 18, 2019. … The Sabres, who defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Thursday, have held their opponents to two goals through the first two games of the season for the first time since 2008-09. … Buffalo claimed defenseman Christian Wolanin off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings and placed defenseman Henri Jokiharju (lower body) on injured reserve. … Coyotes forward Johan Larsson, who had an assist on Ladd's goal, played against the Sabres for the first time since signing as a free agent in the 2020 offseason. Larsson played seven seasons with the Sabres from 2013-20).