Phil Housley earns win No. 1 as NHL coach, Justin Bailey scores first goal after being recalled.
By Dan Arritt / NHL.com Correspondent and by Jourdon LaBarber / Sabres.com
ANAHEIM, CA. — Justin Bailey, Benoit Pouliot, and Johan Larsson scored to lift the Buffalo Sabres to their first win of the season, 3-1 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday.
It was Phil Housley’s first victory as a head NHL coach.
Chad Johnson made 25 saves for the Sabres (1-4-1), who took a 2-1 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the second period after a giveaway by Ducks defenseman Josh Manson led to Pouliot’s goal.
After Chris Wagner won a face-off at center ice back into the Ducks zone, Manson lost control of the puck in the left circle. After Pouliot played the puck, it caromed off Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler and past goalie John Gibson.
Wagner scored shorthanded to tie the game 1-1 at 15:50 of the second period. It was the fifth shorthanded goal allowed by the Sabres, most in the NHL. They gave up four in 82 games last season.
Bailey was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Sunday, and he scored on his first shift to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead 1:26 into the game.
Larsson took a quick shot as the puck came up the wall in the Anaheim zone. Gibson made the initial save, but the rebound got away from him, and Bailey skated in and scored with a backhand.
Larsson scored an empty-net goal with 24 seconds left to make it 3-1.
Bailey recalled
When Justin Bailey was reassigned to Rochester toward the end of training camp, Phil Housley stressed the fact that he and general manager Jason Botterill had been happy with Bailey’s performance in the preseason. He was simply a casualty of a numbers game.
Housley and Botterill passed that same message along to Bailey when they met with him upon his reassignment, telling him to work on the details of his game and earn his way back.
“In years past, two training camps ago, I think the message wasn’t the same,” Bailey said. “For me it was great to hear that they felt like I gave them everything I could in training camp and going down there, I didn’t have any regrets. It was all positive and something I could build on right away.”
Bailey went down and scored two goals in three games with the Amerks, and with the Sabres in need of some speed as they search for their first win, he was recalled on Sunday morning. He’ll be in the lineup when the Sabres meet the Anaheim Ducks this evening.
“We needed a little shot in the foot right now,” Housley said. “Hopefully his speed and energy will be effective for us.”
Housley did not announce who will come out of the lineup to make room for Bailey. Kyle Okposo will miss his second straight game due to an illness, but the remaining 13 forwards and seven defensemen will all take warmups.
Bailey automatically injects a unique combination of speed and size into the lineup. In Rochester, he’s worked on using that skillset to gain possession in the offensive zone.
“I’m in on the forecheck a lot, I think I’m either arriving right when the D does or right before,” Bailey said. “For me, it’s getting over pucks, making sure if I’m getting to the puck first I’m getting over and holding onto possession rather than getting hit and losing it. I’m just trying to focus on that.”
The Sabres (1-4-1) conclude their Western road trip on Tuesday night in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights (4-1).