National Hockey League
New Jersey 6, Buffalo 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Michel Cormier, CJ Murray
Attendance: 16514

Tomas Tatar scored twice and had an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-2 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in Newark, N.J.

Miles Wood added a goal and an assist, Nathan Bastian had three assists, and Nico Hischier had two assists for the Devils (51-22-8, 110 points), who clinched home ice in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the victory. Vitek Vanecek made 36 saves.

Jeff Skinner and Mattias Samuelsson scored, Alex Tuch had two assists and Devon Levi made 24 saves for the Sabres (40-33-7, 87 points), who were eliminated from playoff contention.

Jesper Boqvist gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 11:42 of the first period. His shot from the bottom of the left circle deflected into the net off the skate of Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju.

Jonas Siegenthaler made it 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period. Tatar sent a pass to Hischier, who quickly fed it to Siegenthaler for a shot from above the left circle.

JJ Peterka appeared to get the Sabres on the board when he took a pass from Kyle Okposo off the rush six and a half minutes into the period. But New Jersey challenged for offside and the goal was overturned after video review confirmed Peterka preceded the puck into the zone.

Buffalo would get it back a few minutes later. Tuch sent a back pass down to the net for Casey Mittelstadt, who pulled Vanecek to the right before feeding a no-look backhand pass along the top of the crease over to Skinner on the other side, narrowing it to 2-1 at 6:55.

Wood put the Devils ahead 3-1 lead at 9:28 when he was left uncovered heading low into the right circle to pick up a rebound and send it through traffic past Levi.

Tatar scored from the left circle to extend it to 4-1 at 7:10 of the third period.

Samuelsson cut it to 4-2 from the right circle at 13:15.

Tatar made it 5-2 with an empty-net goal at 17:28 and Jack Hughes pushed it to 6-2 with another empty-net tally at 18:15.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   New Jersey
Alex Tuch 2 Points Tomas Tatar 3
Mattias Samuelsson 1 Goals Tomas Tatar 2
Alex Tuch 2 Assists Nathan Bastian 3
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Devon Levi .857 Save Percentage Vitek Vanecek .947
Devon Levi 24 Saves Vitek Vanecek 36
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Buffalo 38 2 0-2 2-2 4 27
New Jersey 30 6 0-2 2-2 4 28
Upcoming Games
  • New Jersey will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Devils have a W/L % of .608 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Buffalo will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Sabres have a W/L % of .575 after a win and .425 after a loss.