Victor Olofsson scored the game-winning goal, Linus Ullmark made 36 saves, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3, Thursday night in downtown Buffalo.
Jack Eichel extended his point streak to 15 games with another two-goal campaign. His prettiest goal was definitely the first. Colin Miller and Sam Reinhart worked an excellent break-out to set-up pass, and Eichel received said pass on the near-side boards, walked in, and deposited a beautiful wrist shot, off the post and in on goaltender Juuse Saros.
It was a gritty back and forth affair all night, as the lead was no larger than one throughout the entire contest, and the fans didn’t have to wait long for the first tally. Matt Duchene was able to swoop in on Ullmark and slip the puck in as he was drifting towards his own goal-line with less than a minute gone in regulation.
Jimmy Vesey then was able to tie the score at the 14:33 mark of the frame, by deflecting a Rasmus Ristolainen pass into the top right corner of the net, which seemed to jumpstart the home side on Aud Night.
Colton Sissons and Ryan Johansen also tallied for the visiting Predators.
Linus Ullmark was again solid in net for the Sabres, as he continued to reward head coach Ralph Krueger for giving him starter’s minutes of late. Ullmark made a few solid saves with his sound positioning, as he was even able to deflect a late attempt by Nashville with his head, to help preserve the win for Buffalo.
Juuse Saros was also very good for Nashville, as he made 28 saves on 32 shots, many of which, specifically in the first period, was of the excellent variety. It seemed early-on that Buffalo might struggle to score with Saros playing as well as he did in the early stages, but they were able to put enough traffic in front to make the Finnish goaltender’s life difficult.
Up next for Buffalo will be an afternoon tilt on Saturday with the New York Islanders. The puck is slated to drop at 1:00 P.M. from Nassau Coliseum in Long Island as the Sabres look to extend their current three-game winning streak.
