FINAL: BUF 3 OTT 2
SHOTS: BUF 25 OTT 40
POWER PLAY: BUF 0/2 OTT 0/2
HITS: BUF 23 OTT 40
BLOCKED SHOTS: BUF 28 OTT 12
GOALS:
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly (12) assisted by Kyle Okposo (20) and Justin Falk (7)
OTT: Bobby Ryan (12) assisted by Erik Karlsson (38) and Fred Claesson (5)
OTT: Dion Phaneuf (8) assisted by Bobby Ryan (11)
BUF: Matt Moulson (12) assisted by Sam Reinhart (24) and Jack Eichel (17)
BUF: Justin Bailey (2) assisted by Jake McCabe (10) and Rasmus Ristolainen (29)
LINES:
Bailey-O’Reilly-Okposo
Moulson-Eichel-Reinhart
Foligno-Rodrigues-Gionta
Deslauriers-Grant-Ennis
McCabe-Ristolainen
Gorges-Kulikov
Falk-Bogosian
Lehner
RECAP:
The Sabres got off to a great start to this game. Kyle Okposo made a short pass to Ryan O’Reilly and he beat Craig Anderson short side for his 12th on the season. That goal came just 24 seconds into the game.
Bobby Ryan redirected an Erik Karlsson point shot through Lehner’s pads to tie the game at 1.
Late in the 2nd period, Robin Lehner tried to cover the puck but just as he was covering the puck Dion Phaneuf poked the puck into the net.
In the last few minutes of the 2nd period, the Sabres were outshot 14-0 by the Senators. The Sabres have been terrible this season in the 2nd period and tonight they had another bad 2nd period.
The Sabres scored an early goal in the 3rd period. Jack Eichel went around Tom Pyatt and left the puck at the side of the net. Reinhart shot it over Anderson and he initially missed but Matt Moulson tapped it in the net to tie the game. Moulson now has 12 goals this season. Reinhart has 5 points in his last 5 games.
With 12 minutes to go in the game, Jake McCabe took a point shot and Justin Bailey redirected it past Anderson to give the Sabres the 3-2 lead. That was Bailey’s 2nd goal of the season. I really like what I’ve seen out of Bailey on this call up. He had a great game tonight and he’s only gonna get better. He deserves to be here for the rest of the season.
This was a nice bounce back win for the Sabres after a tough loss to the Canucks on Sunday night. The Sabres were 3-0-1 against the Sens this year and Robin Lehner continued to play well against his former team. The Sabres will face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night and that game will be on NBCSN.
