The Sabres had struggled against the Rangers this season, losing all three games up to that point. Friday night was a different story. Two third period goals propelled Buffalo over New York by a 4-1 score.
Drew Stafford scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, helping the Sabres knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, 2-1.
Travis Turnbull earned his first career NHL goal in the opening period. He threw the puck in front of the net, it deflected off of a Rangers skate and behind Henrik Lundqvist.
With his goal he becomes the 6th Sabre to score his first career goal for Buffalo this season, something that hasn’t happened in Buffalo since the 1992-93 season. Alexander Sulzer also scored his first as a Sabre, but it wasn’t his first of his NHL career.
Ryan Miller stopped 26 of 27 saves of the night, and came up big on multiple occasions. He also got some help from his defense.
Late in the third period, Miller was caught out of position and the Rangers had an empty net to shoot at. Christian Ehrhoff stuck his skate against the post and kept the puck out of the Buffalo net. Seconds later, Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis skated down on a 2-on-1 rush and Ennis put the Sabres up 3-1.
The Sabres entered the night just two points behind Washington for 8th place. The Capitals blew a three goal lead for the first time this season, and lost in overtime. The Sabres are now tied in points with Washington, but the Capitals have the tiebreaker.
The Sabres will head home to take on the Minnesota Wild. That game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.