Buffalo Sabres: Jeff Skinner comes through big in first game back

In his first game back from a three-game suspension, Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner came through big in a 5-2 win over Arizona. 

The Buffalo Sabres (15-14-2, 32 points) started the season 7-3-0, before an eight-game losing streak sunk them to 7-11-0. Since then, they had a hard time scratching and clawing their way back to above 0.500, but it happened tonight in a big win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Forward Jeff Skinner was a huge part of that win, scoring two goals to keep the Blue and Gold competitive in a game where they looked wildly inconsistent over the first two periods. Thanks to a well-rested Skinner’s efforts, the Sabres will now look to sweep their current road trip on Monday night in a showdown against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jeff Skinner heroic in Buffalo Sabres big win

Skinner’s first goal occurred off of a rebound from Tage Thompson’s shot in the left circle. Skinner, skating toward the net on the right-hand side, redirected the rebound into the net to tie the game at one apiece.

The second goal saw Skinner drifting across the hash marks and into the right-hand circle, before he found an opening and scored on a snapshot to once again knot the game up. This goal once again involved Tage on the helper, along with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.

Skinner also recorded an assist on Kyle Okposo’s empty-netter to give the Sabres a 5-2 lead in the final minute of the game. Overall, the Sabres couldn’t have done it tonight without Skinner, who kept them in the game during a stagnant first two periods. Now let’s see what he can do for an encore when the Sabres travel to the Mojave Desert to finish off the road trip.

(Statistics provided by NHL.com)

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