Sam Reinhart scored twice in the second period and the visiting Buffalo Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
Defenseman Colin Miller also scored and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves for the Sabres, who totaled two goals while dropping three straight following a COVID-19-related layoff from Feb. 1-14.
New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri scored for the third time in two games, this time 40 seconds into the third period. Defenseman P.K. Subban also tallied on the power play with 3:16 left in regulation to get the host Devils within a goal.
Ullmark and the Sabres’ defense stepped up to snap the Devils’ three-game winning streak, with two victories coming after their own COVID-19 layoff.
Buffalo opened the scoring 5:26 into the game. Off a faceoff win, former Devil Taylor Hall slipped the puck to Miller, whose wrist shot from the point made it through traffic and past New Jersey goalie Mackenzie Blackwood (26 saves). It was the first time in six games that the Sabres’ recorded a first-period goal.
The Sabres made it 2-0 thanks to a faceoff win from captain Jack Eichel, this time with 11:53 to go in the middle period. Off a pass from defenseman Brandon Montour, Matt Irwin drilled a slap shot from the point, where the puck deflected off the stick of Reinhart and squeezed its way past Blackwood.
Reinhart would be rewarded again for his strong play with 2:14 left in the second. Alone in front of Blackwood, Reinhart pushed home an Eichel pass to make it 3-0.
Palmieri, who went his first nine games of the season without a goal, took a pass from Jack Hughes and scored off a wrister from inside the far circle. Subban’s goal later in the third was his first of the season.
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–Field Level Media