Pilut, Smith each scores first NHL goal; Skinner nets 29th marker in win over the New Jersey Devils.
By Heather Engel / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — C.J. Smith and Lawrence Pilut each scored his first NHL goal, part of a five-goal second period for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
Jeff Skinner, Casey Mittelstadt and Jake McCabe scored for the Sabres (23-14-6), who defeated New Jersey in Buffalo for the first time since April 1, 2014. Carter Hutton made 20 saves.
Blake Coleman scored for the Devils (16-19-7), who lost their second straight game. Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves.
New Jersey took a 1-0 lead at 1:28 of the first period when Miles Wood’s shot from the left wall hit Coleman’s skate in front.
Skinner scored his 29th of the season from the left face-off dot far side to tie it 1-1 at 1:39 of the second period. Smith, a forward playing his sixth NHL game, made it 2-1 at 4:14; his shot trickled through Kinkaid’s pads inside the left post.
Mittelstadt extended the lead to 3-1 when he pushed the rebound of his shot stick side at 10:42, and McCabe made it 4-1 when he finished a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Evan Rodrigues from the left circle at 16:00.
Pilut, a defenseman playing his 12th NHL game, scored with a point shot through traffic with 2:15 remaining in the period to make it 5-1.
Team captain Jack Eichel missed his third game with an upper body injury. He did practice Monday with his teammates and might return to the lineup Friday.
Up next
The Sabres travel to Charlotte, N.C. for a Friday encounter with the Carolina Hurricanes.