Updated 06.58 | Published 06.41
NEW YORK. Coffee, cake, eight straight…
Yes, the red-hot Buffalo Sabres continued their winning ways Tuesday night, taking down the San Jose Sharks 6-3.
“We’re ready for every game,” said Rasmus Dahlin, who added three assists in the victory.
Some Buffalo fans – still hesitant to fully trust after fifteen years without a playoff appearance – worried the Sabres might struggle to rebound against the San Jose Sharks following their emotional win over Tampa Bay two nights prior.
But those concerns proved unfounded.
Buffalo came out firing, scoring consistently, standing their ground in a couple of scrums, and ultimately winning 6-3, fueled by a hat trick from Jack Quinn.
“We know every game is a new game and you have to be ready for it every time,” Dahlin said.
“I think we’ve done a great job with that. We work harder off the ice too and we make sure we’re ready every game.”
The Sabres captain was certainly ready himself Tuesday night, assisting on three of the team’s goals. He now ranks sixth among defensemen in scoring, trailing only Evan Bouchard, Zach Werenski, Cale Makar, Lane Hutson, and Quinn Hughes.
With the win, Buffalo has now won eight straight games – for the second time this season, a first in franchise history – and has pulled four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division standings. The Sabres’ success is bolstering their playoff chances.
“We’ve consistently played at a high level. That’s just the way you win so many games,” coach Lindy Ruff said.
“Yeah, we’ve won in different ways, which is good, but the recurring theme is that we’ve been able to maintain a high level consistently.”
Alexander Wennberg scored both a goal and an assist for San Jose, but the Sharks fell to Buffalo 6-3, slightly hindering their pursuit of a Western Conference wild card spot.
Perhaps the most spectacular goal of the night came from Nashville Predators rookie Ryan Ufko in Seattle.
Immediately after a faceoff 14:25 into the second period, Ufko picked up the puck just inside the blue line, skated forward, suddenly weaved through the entire Kraken defense, and then deked Joey Daccord before burying his first NHL goal.
“I don’t think my eyes,” the TV commentator exclaimed as Ufko’s teammates stood frozen on the ice, laughing.
The goal proved crucial, giving the Predators a 3-2 lead and ultimately securing a 4-2 victory.
Filip Forsberg and company are now firmly in the Western Conference playoff race, just one point behind Seattle for the final wild card position.
The New York Islanders also mounted a comeback, overcoming a larger deficit in St. Louis.
The Blues had a 3-0 lead late in the second period, but the Islanders rallied to win 4-3 in overtime, with Mat Barzal scoring the game-winner – his tenth overtime goal in as many attempts, incredibly.
“A phenomenal goal,” said coach Patrick Roy.
The game-winning play was set up by none other than Brayden Schenn – the longtime Blues captain who was traded to Long Island last Friday and returned to Enterprise Center Tuesday night.
“I’m not going to lie, it was an emotional day. I usually can keep it together, but driving to the rink today, I got pretty choked up,” he said.
Philip Broberg scored one of the home team’s goals and Theo Lindstein recorded an assist in his NHL debut.
Boston Bruins star Charlie McAvoy continues to face misfortune. After undergoing facial surgery earlier this season after being hit in the face with a puck, he’s repeatedly taken more hits to the face.
Tuesday night, at home against the LA Kings, it happened again. The Olympic medalist left the game in the second period with blood pouring from his mouth – but returned in the third with a split lip and several missing teeth, ultimately scoring the game-winning goal in overtime.
“He’s not getting any prettier, that’s for sure,” joked coach Marco Sturm.
“But he’s such a competitor and was so good in the third period and scored a wonderful goal.”
The goal was particularly important, as Columbus defeated the Lightning 5-2 in Tampa (with an assist from Victor Hedman). Had the Bruins lost, the Blue Jackets would have been tied with them.
Hampus Lindholm and Viktor Arvidsson assisted on Mason Lohrei’s 1-0 goal, and Adrian Kempe assisted on Drew Doughty’s 1-1 goal.
The Detroit Red Wings, however, suffered a stinging loss to the Panthers in Sunrise – despite leading 3-2 with a minute and a half remaining.
But with two quick goals – the last with just fifteen seconds left – Carter Verhaeghe dealt a serious blow to the Red Wings’ playoff hopes.
“It hurts,” said star Patrick Kane.
Florida’s Swedish players, Gustav Forsling and Jesper Boqvist, each recorded an assist.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continued to struggle, falling to the Montreal Canadiens for the eighth consecutive game.
The final score was 3-1, with William Nylander scoring his 22nd goal of the season.
“That’s a lot of losses in a row now,” Nylander said, and he’s right.
Pittsburgh managed a point in their tough road game against Carolina, but ultimately the teams were separated in overtime, where the Hurricanes prevailed 5-4.
Erik Karlsson assisted on two goals and Rickard Rakell on one.
One of the more unusual penalties of the season was assessed to Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon in their home game against Edmonton.
Late in the second period, after being bumped into the Edmonton netminder by Darnell Nurse, MacKinnon was called for goaltender interference, largely because Connor Ingram was injured and forced to exit the game.
“Nathan was trying to avoid the hit, I really can’t understand that being a major penalty,” said newly acquired teammate Nazem Kadri.
Edmonton won the game 4-3 after a stunning goal from Connor McDavid in the middle of the third period.
Other results from Tuesday’s slate: Dallas defeated Vegas 2-1 (with a goal from Oskar Bäck) and Anaheim extended their lead in the Pacific Division with a 4-1 win on the road against Winnipeg (Elias Salomonsson had an assist on the Jets’ consolation goal).
