Buffalo ends a 4-game losing streak with the 6-3 victory over the Coyotes.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night at the KeyBank Center.
The Sabres turned a short-handed turnover into the tying goal, 1-1, by Marcus Foligno, off a steal by Ryan O’Reilly in the Arizona end in the first period. Rasmus Ristolainen kept the play alive and received the second assist.
O’Reilly scored on a power play in the first minute of the second period, off a pass from Jack Eichel, for a 2-1 Sabres lead. It was O’Reilly’s 14th goal of the season, and Eichel extended his streak to 8 straight games of getting at least one point. Kyle Okposo also drew an assist on the play.
However, the Coyotes wasted little time in netting the equalizer as they scored short-handed to even the count at 2-2 68 seconds later.
Buffalo regained the lead midway through the stanza on a power play goal by Eichel, his 15th of the season. Sam Reinhart and Okposo assisted on the play. Okposo was injured later in the period and did not return to the game.
In the third period, defenseman Jake McCabe forced a turnover that O’Reilly brought into the Coyotes zone. He back-handed a pass to Evander Kane, who blasted a shot from the slot past Arizona goalie Mike Smith for a 4-3 advantage. The goal was Kane’s 23rd of the campaign.
Foligno gave the Sabres a 2-goal edge as he scored with 1:43 to play, off an assist from Eichel. The 2-goal night gives Foligno 12 for the season, a single-season, career-high for the Buffalo native.
In the final seconds of play, Reinhart stole the puck in the Arizona end. He attempted to pass it out from, but it hit off the skate of a Coyote defender and deflected into the empty net for a 6-3 final.
Sabres goalie Robin Lehner recorded 19 saves in earning the win.
“There’s a long uphill battle the next 18 games (to make the playoffs), but we’ll see what we can do,” said Greece native and team captain Brian Gionta in the post-game interview on MSG-TV.
Buffalo is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. The Lightning’s Ryan Callahan of Hilton is out for the remainder of the season with an injury.
The Sabres travel to Pittsburgh Sunday to take on the Penguins.