National Hockey League
Buffalo 4, San Jose 3
When: 10:30 PM ET, Saturday, October 19, 2019
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen: Kiel Murchison, Derek Nansen
Attendance: 17562

Zemgus Girgensons scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the visiting Buffalo Sabres relied on four different goal scorers to claim a 4-3 seesaw victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Girgensons pounced on a loose puck in the slot, after a turnover and a blocked shot, and made the most of the golden chance for his first goal of the season to break a deadlock with 7:45 left in regulation.

Goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 29 shots to backstop the Atlantic Division-leading Sabres in a roller coaster of a game.

Buffalo's Marcus Johansson opened the scoring at 12:10 of the opening frame, netting his fourth goal of the season. Henri Jokiharju crossed the blue line and zipped across the ice before giving a short pass to Johansson. Johansson's wrist shot from inside the left circle found the mark between the legs of Sharks goalie Martin Jones.

Timo Meier tied the game with a power-play marker at the 16-minute mark. Meier was left alone near the bottom of the left circle when he received the pass from Joe Thornton and ripped a top-corner wrister over the glove of Ullmark.

Casey Mittelstadt put the Sabres ahead 2-1 with 2:53 remaining in the second period with a controversial goal. Mittelstadt was in the slot when he deflected Jokiharju's high point shot. It was originally ruled to be touched with a high stick by the officials, then ruled a goal after a review.

Tomas Hertl's power-play goal 44 seconds into the third period again pulled the Sharks even. Hertl deflected a point shot off a defender and into the net, but the wild scoring spree didn't end there.

Jeff Skinner put the Sabres up 3-2 by burying a loose puck at the 2:28 mark of the frame, but Marcus Sorensen's goal with a perfect deflection 22 seconds later evened the count.

Jones made 31 saves for the Sharks, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   San Jose
Marcus Johansson 2 Points Erik Karlsson 2
Marcus Johansson 1 Goals Tomas Hertl 1
Henri Jokiharju 2 Assists Erik Karlsson 2
N/A Power Play Goals Tomas Hertl 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Linus Ullmark .906 Save Percentage Martin Jones .886
Linus Ullmark 29 Saves Martin Jones 31
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Buffalo 35 4 0-4 2-4 8 25
San Jose 32 3 2-4 4-4 8 31
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Sharks have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .200 after a loss.
  • Buffalo will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Sabres have a W/L % of .714 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.