Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs each had a goal and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz., on Saturday.
Tuch has 12 points in 11 games with the Sabres.
Craig Anderson made 27 saves for Buffalo in his first game since Nov. 2. The veteran goalie missed 32 games with an upper-body injury.
Shayne Gostisbehere scored and Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost five in a row.
The Sabres played without defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forwards Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Asplund. Each was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol prior to the game, forcing the club to ice a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen. They lost one of those defensemen early on, with Will Butcher sustaining a lower-body injury three minutes into the first period.
Kyle Okposo opened the scoring for Buffalo with a power-play goal at 7:02 of the first period, taking a pass from defenseman Jacob Bryson and skating to the top of the right circle for the 1-0 lead.
Krebs connected for the third time in the past three games to make it 2-0. Casey Mittelstadt broke out of the defensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Krebs, waiting before feeding him in the right circle at 15:07.
Tuch connected on a give-and-go with Krebs to extend it to 3-0 at 7:14 of the second period.
After Tuch carried the puck into the zone and dropped a pass back to Krebs, Krebs skated to the left circle before sending a pass through two Coyotes defenders over to Tuch on the doorstep for the tap-in.
Gostisbehere got the Coyotes on the board on the power play at 11:30 of the third period, firing a shot from the point through traffic past a screened Anderson to make it 3-1.
--Field Level Media
Buffalo | Arizona | |
Peyton Krebs 2 | Points | Shayne Gostisbehere 1 |
Peyton Krebs 1 | Goals | Shayne Gostisbehere 1 |
Peyton Krebs 1 | Assists | Clayton Keller 1 |
Kyle Okposo 1 | Power Play Goals | Shayne Gostisbehere 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Craig Anderson .964 | Save Percentage | Karel Vejmelka .914 |
Craig Anderson 27 | Saves | Karel Vejmelka 32 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Buffalo | 35 | 3 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 6 | 22 |
Arizona | 28 | 1 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 8 | 23 |