Rasmus Ristolainen scored a power-play goal early in the third period to break a tie, and Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist as the visiting Buffalo Sabres scored four unanswered goals to pull out a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
Jeff Skinner and Patrik Berglund also scored goals and Sam Reinhart added a pair of assists for Buffalo, which won three of its five games on a western road trip that concluded with back-to-back victories over the Los Angeles Kings and the Ducks. Carter Hutton finished with 26 saves for the Sabres.
Sam Steel scored his first career NHL goal and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for Anaheim, which lost its second straight game. Brandon Montour added a pair of assists, and Ryan Miller finished with 41 saves.
Steel, the 30th pick in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, was in the right place at the right time to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead at the 16:42 mark of the first period. Montour fired a shot from the right point toward the net, where it hit Steel's left hip and ricocheted in off the right post past Hutton.
Sherwood made it 2-0 over midway through the second period when he broke in and fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that deflected off the stick of Buffalo's Casey Mittelstadt and into the far corner of the net.
The Sabres rallied to tie it 2-2 with a pair of goals just 1:28 apart late in the middle period. Okposo scored the first on a power play, blasting in a crossing pass from Reinhart from the right side of the goal. Skinner then tied it with his fourth goal in two games, finishing a two-on-one with Jason Pominville with a backhander over Miller's left pad.
Ristolainen then gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead early in the third period with what proved to be the game-winner, slapping a shot from the high slot past a double screen and over Miller's glove for his first goal of the season.
The Ducks pulled Miller with 1:35 remaining, and Hutton came up with a trio of big saves on Ryan Kesler, Montour and Ryan Getzlaf during a scramble in front of the net that also included a key block by Johan Larsson on Rickard Rakell. Berglund then sealed the win with an empty-netter with 16.1 seconds to go.
--Field Level Media
Buffalo | Anaheim | |
Kyle Okposo 2 | Points | Brandon Montour 2 |
Kyle Okposo 1 | Goals | Kiefer Sherwood 1 |
Sam Reinhart 2 | Assists | Brandon Montour 2 |
Kyle Okposo 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Carter Hutton .929 | Save Percentage | Ryan Miller .932 |
Carter Hutton 26 | Saves | Ryan Miller 41 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Buffalo | 45 | 4 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 9 | 26 |
Anaheim | 28 | 2 | 0-2 | 2-4 | 13 | 29 |