The forward breaks the tie in third period; Buffalo ends its 4-game losing streak with the 4-2 win over Colorado.
By Rick Sadowski / NHL.com Correspondent
DENVER, CO. — Robin Lehner made 35 saves to help the Buffalo Sabres end a 4-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center Tuesday night.
Benoit Pouliot, Jake McCabe, Evander Kane, and Jack Eichel scored for the Sabres (7-17-4), who are 2-9-2 in their past 13 games.
Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for the Avalanche (12-12-2), who lost the last three games of a 5-game homestand to go 1-4-0.
Kane gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead at 11:54 of the third period with his 13th goal. Eichel sent the puck behind the Avalanche net, Kane corralled it and scored on a wraparound.
Eichel scored into an empty net with 32.9 seconds to play.
The Avalanche tied the game 2-2 at 9:58 on a power-play goal by MacKinnon, who beat Lehner to the short side for his second goal of the game and 10th of the season.
The Sabres took a 2-1 lead in the second period on goals by Pouliot and McCabe.
Pouliot scored shorthanded at 5:32 off a pass from Ryan O’Reilly, who skated into the Avalanche end as defenseman Erik Johnson slid toward the net. O’Reilly passed across to Pouliot on the right side for a shot past goalie Semyon Varlamov for a 1-0 lead.
The Avalanche tied the game 1-1 at 12:22 on a power-play goal by MacKinnon, who beat Lehner to the short side from the left circle for his ninth goal.
The Sabres went ahead 2-1 on McCabe’s goal at 18:59. His shot bounced into the net off Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard. It was the first goal by a Buffalo defenseman this season.
The Avalanche requested a review whether the Sabres were offside before the goal, but the goal stood and Colorado was assessed a penalty for delay of game.
*EDITOR’S NOTE — Johan Larsson knocked the puck out of the air and back into the Colorado zone as the officials apparently ruled the play onsides as the puck never touched the ice outside the blue line.
Buffalo continues its road trip Friday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks.