Linus Ullmark was dominant in his first game of the season and Rasmus Dahlin scored his first career NHL goal as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Arizona Coyotes, 3-0, to start off their five-game western road trip.
Ullmark with an excellent save to keep a certain thing that we shall not name in tact. #SabresAfterDark pic.twitter.com/8Z3HIm5kwf
— BuffaloHockeyCentral (@BHCdotcom) October 14, 2018
It wasn’t pretty, but Dahlin has his 1st career NHL goal! #Sabres #SabresAfterDark pic.twitter.com/jP1BsqrUus
— BuffaloHockeyCentral (@BHCdotcom) October 14, 2018
The Sabres started fast as Jeff Skinner drove to the net and left the puck in the crease for Dahlin to tap in the first of his career.
A little more than 15 minutes later, Conor Sheary scored his third of the season on the power play off of a great pass by Sam Reinhart.
Conor Sheary extends the #Sabres lead with a powerplay goal from Eichel and Reinhart! #SabresAfterDark pic.twitter.com/DxPFbmKhqJ
— BuffaloHockeyCentral (@BHCdotcom) October 14, 2018
That was the first goal the Coyotes gave up while killing a penalty this season, as they started off the season 7-for-7.
Skinner had his best game as a Sabre as he not only had his first assist, he also scored his first goal in a Sabres sweater with a nasty backhand over Arizona goaltender Antti Raanta after taking a nice pass from Rasmus Ristolainen late in the third period to put the game away.
Skinner showing off his skills and going top shelf to put the #Sabres up 3-0! pic.twitter.com/DYD2lasYuj
— BuffaloHockeyCentral (@BHCdotcom) October 14, 2018
Ullmark made the most of his first start of the season, stopping all 36 shots as he put up his first shut out in his 25th career start. There were stretches of the game where Buffalo couldn’t get the puck out of the zone, but Ullmark stood tall and made some very impressive saves to bail out his skaters, including a huge glove save on Dylan Strome from the slot.
Even though Arizona out shot Buffalo, 36-23, and outplayed them for almost the entire third period, they were unable to score for the third time in their first four games of the season. The best part of the game for the Coyotes was wearing their throwback Kachina jerseys.
The Sabres were able to escape with the win, but if they want to have sustained success they will need to put together a more complete game. The offense was non-existent outside of the top line for most of the third period until Skinner’s goal with three and a half minutes left in the game and they had problems clearing the puck.
Buffalo will look for the season sweep of the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night in Vegas at 10 p.m. EST.