The No. 1 pick in 2018 Draft puts Buffalo ahead early, Ullmark makes 36 saves for shutout
By Alan Robinson / NHL.com Correspondent
GLENDALE, AZ. — Rasmus Dahlin scored his first NHL goal 2:45 into the game, and Linus Ullmark made 36 saves for the Buffalo Sabres for his first NHL shutout, a 3-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday.
Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, pushed the puck into an open net to make it 1-0 after Jeff Skinner drew goalie Antti Raanta out of the crease to play a shot that deflected off the left post directly to Dahlin.
At 18 years and 183 days, Dahlin is the youngest defenseman to score a goal in Sabres history.
It was Skinner’s first point with the Sabres. The forward, acquired in a trade from the Carolina Hurricanes on Aug. 2, scored his first goal with them at 16:29 of the third period to make it 3-0.
Conor Sheary scored on the power play at 18:06 of the second to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead. It was his third goal in four games.
The Sabres (3-2-0), off to their best five-game start since they went 4-1-0 in 2010-11, began a five-game Western Conference road trip. They were coming off a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, when goalie Carter Hutton gave up all six goals.
Raanta made 20 saves, but the Coyotes were shut out for the third time in four games and still haven’t won two straight games in October since 2015.
Arizona, which outshot Buffalo 36-23, has had at least 30 shots on goal in each game but has scored two goals in four games, none in two home games.
Ullmark, making his 25th NHL start and first of the season, made several difficult saves in a second period, when most of the Coyotes’ nine shots were high-quality attempts from close to the net.