Sabres beat Sharks in OT, get 10th straight win
BUFFALO, N.Y. >> The Buffalo Sabres had to go to overtime after squandering a two-goal third-period lead, but they still made it a perfect 10.
Jeff Skinner scored his teamleading 19th goal 1:19 into overtime, and the Sabres won their
10th straight by beating the San Jose Sharks 3-2 Tuesday night.
Rasmus Ristolainen scored off a deke around Brent Burns, and Nathan Beaulieu also scored for Buffalo, which hasn’t lost since Nov. 4.
The streak matches the longest in Sabres history and is the NHL’s best run since the Columbus Blue Jackets won 16 in a row from Nov. 29, 2016, to Jan. 3, 2017. Buffalo won 10 straight twice before, and most recently by going
10-0 to open the 2006-07 season. Carter Hutton stopped the first
32 shots he faced and 36 overall to extend his personal-best winning streak to eight, during which he’s allowed just 15 goals.
Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks in the final 8½ minutes to up his team-leading total to 15.
Martin Jones stopped 28 shots and had little chance on any of the three goals.
The Sharks, coming off a 6-0 loss at Vegas on Saturday, earned a point to move into a tie with idle Calgary for Pacific Division lead.
By improving to 17-6-2, the Sabres are eight wins short of matching last season’s total, when they became the NHL’s first team to finish 31st in the standings following the addition of the expansion Golden Knights. Buffalo has also won six straight at home to mark its best streak since a 7-0 run from Nov. 28 to Dec. 15, 2014. GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8, BLACKHAWKS
3>> Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore each had two goals and an assist, and Vegas beat Chicago for its season-high fourth consecutive victory.
Alex Tuch added a goal and an assist as Vegas continued its resurgence in the opener of a threegame trip. William Karlsson, Ryan Reaves and Daniel Carr also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for his sixth win in his last seven starts.
DUCKS 3, LIGHTNING 1 >> Ryan Miller made 34 saves and Nick Ritchie had a goal and an assist for Anaheim.
Miller won his 373rd game, moving past Andy Moog for sole possession of 17th place on the career wins list. He also moved within one victory of tying John Vanbiesbrouck for the most by a U.S.-born goalie.
Josh Manson and Carter Rowney also scored for the Ducks.
Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, which is 3-1-0 on a five-game homestand. Louis Domingue stopped 19 shots. HURRICANES 2, CANADIENS 1 >> Curtis McElhinney stopped 48 shots and Carolina defeated the Canadiens in Shea Weber’s return from injury for Montreal.
Victor Rask and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored for the Hurricanes, who have won four of five.
McElhinney made 21 saves in the third period alone for his fourth straight victory.
Phillip Danault scored for the Canadiens, whose losing streak reached five games. Carey Price made 20 saves.
COYOTES 4, WILD 3 >> Josh Archibald had two goals and an assist, and Arizona rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit and defeated Minnesota.
Lawson Crouse and Michael Grabner also scored for Arizona, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Charlie Coyle, Zach Parise and Jason Zucker scored for the Wild. Jared Spurgeon assisted on all three goals, matching his career high for assists.
AVALANCHE 3, PREDATORS 2 >> Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves and streaking Colorado beat Nashville.
Tyson Jost had the other goal for the Avalanche, who have won five straight. Colorado also ended an 11-game losing streak to Nashville in the regular season.
Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala scored for the Predators.
Kings activates Quick
LOS ANGELES >> The Los Angeles Kings have activated goaltender Jonathan Quick off injured reserve.
Quick, who is the Kings’ regular goalie, has missed the last 12 games due to a lower-body injury.
The 32-year-old Quick has played in only four games this season. He is 0-3-1 with a 4.55 goals-against average and .845 save percentage. Los Angeles opened a three-game road trip Tuesday against Vancouver.