St. Louis, Mo. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres won their fourth game in-a-row on Tuesday night, as the blue and gold outlasted the St. Louis Blues, 5-3, at Enterprise Center.
The Sabres came out like gangbusters in the first period, and scored a trio of goals in the opening 20 minutes.
The first two tallies took place in the first 90 seconds, courtesy of Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch.
Skinner's tally helped him join the 20-goal club in Buffalo, becoming the fourth Sabres skater to register 20 goals through 47 games. That's a feat that hasn't happened been reached for the Sabres in over 15 years.
Later in the frame, the Sabres' edge became 3-0 when Owen Power struck for the second-straight night after going almost nine months without a goal.
Three more goals were scored in the second period of play, but this time, St. Louis found a pair to make things interesting.
Tage Thompson scored first for Buffalo, as he extended Buffalo's lead to 4-0 against his former club with his 33rd goal of the season. The goal came just 1:10 into the middle stanza.
The Blues woke up before period's end, though, as forwards Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn potted goals to make it a 4-2 contest heading to the final period of regulation.
St. Louis turned up the heat even more inside the opening minute of the third when forward Jordan Kyrou netted his 23rd goal of the season. The goal cut Buffalo's lead to one goal, while the momentum was firmly in the Blues' favor.
Fortunately, the Sabres held off a late push from the Blues, and even added an empty-net tally with St. Louis on a 6-on-4 power play with the net empty and Peyton Krebs in the penalty box.
Dylan Cozens snuck free from the Sabres' zone with a self-pass off the boards, and was able to connect with the lonely net on a backhand for his 17th goal of the season.
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GAME RECAP:
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 1:00 - Jeff Skinner (20) (Tage Thompson, Kyle Okposo); 1:25 - Alex Tuch (23) (Jeff Skinner, Henri Jokiharju); 9:07 - Owen Power (2) (JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson)
STL: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 1:10 - Tage Thompson (33) (Alex Tuch, Mattias Samuelsson)
STL: 4:33 - Ivan Barbashev (8) (Torey Krug, Justin Faulk); 7:56 - Brayden Schenn (12) (Justin Faulk, Torey Krug)
Third Period:
BUF: 19:00 - Dylan Cozens (17) SH/ENG (Unassisted)
STL: 0:47 - Jordan Kyrou (23) (Brandon Saad, Nick Leddy)
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
STL: 14:04 - Logan Brown (Goaltender Interference - 2 min.); 16:15 - Logan Brown (Delay of game, puck over glass - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 13:00 - Rasmus Dahlin (Cross-checking - 2 min.)
STL: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 12:13 - Kyle Okposo (Roughing - 2 min.); 18:14 - Peyton Krebs (Faceoff violation - 2 min.)
STL: 12:13 - Niko Mikkola (Roughing - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Tage Thompson - BUF
2.) Alex Tuch - BUF
3.) Justin Faulk - STL
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What's next:
The blue and gold head to Winnipeg, Manitoba on Thursday to battle the Jets at Canadian Life Centre. Faceoff in Winnipeg is set for 8 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 7 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol.
