Buffalo wins on Jack Eichel’s penalty shot after Sam Reinhart tied the game in the 3rd.
By Chris Ryndak / Sabres.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jack Eichel netted the overtime winner on a penalty shot in the Buffalo Sabres’ 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at KeyBank Center.
Eichel drew the penalty shot 1:09 into the extra period and scored on a wrist shot that went high glove side on Oilers goaltender Mike Smith.
The Sabres captain now holds the franchise record for most overtime goals with nine.
Curtis Lazar and Sam Reinhart also scored for Buffalo to erase a two-goal deficit.
Linus Ullmark made 25 saves to earn his 12th win of the season.
What happened
Edmonton struck first with a pair of goals in the first 7 minutes. First, Riley Sheahan scored 5:06 into the contest and then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found the back of the net through traffic 1:54 later.
The Sabres cut the deficit to one when Lazar finished a set up by Marcus Johansson 8:30 into the first.
Buffalo tied the game 3:53 into the third period when Zach Bogosian’s wrist shot from the point deflected in off Reinhart.
The Sabres had the better offensive opportunities in the third period, but weren’t rewarded for their efforts. They outshot he Oilers 10-3 in the third.
Then Eichel drew the penalty shot in overtime to clinch the extra point. Eichel is 1-for-2 in his career on penalty shots.
What it means
The Sabres are now 18-17-7 on the season and 12-5-3 at home.
Victor Olofsson, who was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for the month of December, recorded an assist on Reinhart’s goal. He now has 15 points (6+9) in his last 15 games dating back to the beginning of December. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-victor-olofsson-rookie-of-the-month/c-313362574
Olofsson exited the game after falling into the end boards on the shift that ended with Reinhart’s goal.
Lazar extended his point streak to three games, tying a career high. He has two goals and an assist during that span. His only other career three-game streak was from March 26 to 29, 2015 (2+1) when he was with Ottawa.
With his goal tonight, Reinhart recorded the 100th goal of his NHL career, and he now has seven points (2+5) in his last six home games.
Johansson now has a point in each of his last three games (1+3).
Coming up
Buffalo hosts the Florida Panthers Saturday at 1 pm, where the team will be celebrating the 1990s as part of the Golden Season. Nearly two dozen alumni including Michael Peca, Brad May, Derek Plante, Jason Dawe, and Dave Hannan are expected to attend.
Sabres make 2 trades
Sabres GM Jason Botterill had been in the market to swap a defenseman for a forward, an objective that came to fruition with a series of deals on Thursday evening.
Buffalo acquired a fourth-round pick from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Marco Scandella, then flipped the pick to the Calgary Flames for forward Michael Frolik.
Frolik, 31, has tallied 5 goals and 5 assists in 38 games with Calgary this season. His resume includes 8 seasons with at least 10 even-strength goals (he scored 14 last season), 10 seasons with at least 10 total goals, and a Stanley Cup championship with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013.
Olofsson honored
On Thursday afternoon, the National Hockey League named forward Victor Olofsson as the league’s Rookie of the Month for December.
In 14 December games, Victor Olofsson led all NHL rookies in goals, points, power-play goals, power-play points and game-winning goals.
Olofsson’s six goals and 14 points in December pushed his season total to 16 goals, 18 assists and 34 points.
With his 14 points in the month, Olofsson became the first Sabres rookie with 14 or more points in a calendar month since Tyler Myers (14 points) did it back in March 2010.
Olofsson becomes the first rookie this season to win the award twice.
Smith waived
It was an interesting move the other day when the Buffalo Sabres gave Dalton Smith an NHL contract. The 27-year-old played his entire career in the AHL and was an unexpected call up for their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Smith only ended up getting a handful of shifts and playing 1:26 against the Lightning on Tuesday evening in the Sabres 6-4 loss. He got into a shoving matchup with Lightning defenseman Luke Schenn for his lone highlight of the evening.
Today, the Sabres placed Smith on waivers for the purpose of being reassigned to the Rochester Americans. Known for his toughness, it appears that the purpose of the call up was to add some sandpaper into the lineup for the matchup against the Lightning. If you recall, Vladimir Sobotka and Rasmus Dahlin were injured with cheap hits in their previous matchups this season.