Buffalo Sabres: Sabres Defeat San Jose 4-3 in Overtime; Move to 8-1-1

It wasn’t always pretty but with a will, there’s a way, and the Buffalo Sabres dug deep to pick up a win against the San Jose Sharks.

In the first period the Buffalo Sabres looked like the west coast road trip may have taken a toll on them, but then Ralph Krueger’s boys came fighting back. In a game that turned into a physical contest, the Sabres found a way to come out on top. Let’s take a look at how it all went down.

In the first period the Sabres initially came out of the gates looking strong. Early Buffalo was able to keep the puck in the San Jose zone and keep the pressure on. However, just 5 minutes in to the game, San Jose’s Dylan Gambrell snuck a shot past Carter Hutton. After the goal things started to go San Jose’s way. They were able to keep the puck in the Sabre zone for a majority of the first and with 5 minutes left in the period, Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored to make the score 2-0.

In the second period the Sabres looked like a much better team. When the game turned very physical, the Sabres were able to match San Jose’s physicality which is something that we haven’t seen a lot of this year from Buffalo. 7 minutes into the period, Jack Eichel scored his 5th goal of the year on the power play.

The goal was another example of the Sabres making quality passes on the power play to put the team in good position to score. With the goal, the Sabres cut into the San Jose lead making the score 2-1. As the second period continued, the Sabres began to look dominant keeping the puck mostly in the San Jose zone. With just 30 second left in the period, Sam Reinhart slapped home his fourth goal of the season off of a nice assist from Rasmus Ristolainen.

To begin the third period, the Buffalo Sabres picked right up where they left off. Jeff Skinner tapped in his 6th goal of the young season just 45 seconds into the period, and gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead.

As the third went on, so did the Sabres offense. The Sabres were able to keep the puck near the San Jose net. About midway through the third, the game got a bit chippy and a small fight erupted on the boards that was quickly broken up. Shortly after, Erik Karlsson scored to tie the game back up for San Jose. San Jose kept the pressure on for the remainder of the period, but thanks to some great saves from Carter Hutton, the game went to overtime.

In overtime the Sabres dominated in keeping possession of the puck and with about 2 minutes left, Captain Jack Eichel scored to win it for Buffalo.

With the win, the Sabres moved to 8-1-1 on the season, tune back into Sabre Noise tomorrow for a more detailed breakdown of the game!