Evan Rodrigues scored his first two goals of the season, and the Buffalo Sabres snapped a six-game road winless streak by pounding the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Sunday.
Rodrigues had gone scoreless in 25 games before his breakthrough performance.
Zach Bogosian also scored his first goal of the season, and Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Ristolainen added goals for the Sabres. Linus Ullmark, who recorded a shutout in the teams' first meeting, had 21 saves.
Madison Bowey scored and Jimmy Howard stopped 22 shots for the Red Wings, who had won their previous three home games.
Special teams played a major role in Buffalo's victory. The Sabres were 2 of 4 on the power play and also scored a short-handed goal. Detroit came up empty on three power plays.
Rodrigues scored his first goal at 2:39 of the first period when he fired in a one-timer from the slot off a Curtis Lazar feed. Conor Sheary collected the second assist.
Rodrigues struck again at the five-minute mark during a power play. Rodrigues' initial shot from in front went off Howard's blocker. Rodrigues grabbed the rebound and lifted the puck over Howard's right shoulder. Henri Jokiharju and Brandon Montour assisted.
Detroit allowed its league-high ninth short-handed goal at 12:43 of the first period. Girgensons snared an errant Filip Zadina pass near his own blue zone and beat Howard on a breakaway for his eighth goal.
Bowey scored his third goal at 11:56 of the second period. He blasted a shot from the point that got past a screened Ullmark and found the far side of the net. Robby Fabbri and Dylan Larkin had assists.
Bogosian tallied at 2:35 of the third period. He skated from the right circle into the slot and backhanded a shot past Howard's stick. Lazar picked up an assist.
The Sabres made the score 5-1 at 3:40 of the third when Ristolainen scored a power-play goal on a rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin shot.
--Field Level Media
Buffalo | Detroit | |
Evan Rodrigues 2 | Points | Madison Bowey 1 |
Evan Rodrigues 2 | Goals | Madison Bowey 1 |
Curtis Lazar 2 | Assists | Robby Fabbri 1 |
Evan Rodrigues 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
Zemgus Girgensons 1 | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Linus Ullmark .955 | Save Percentage | Jimmy Howard .815 |
Linus Ullmark 21 | Saves | Jimmy Howard 22 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Buffalo | 27 | 5 | 2-4 | 3-3 | 6 | 24 |
Detroit | 22 | 1 | 0-3 | 2-4 | 8 | 32 |