Every period Saturday afternoon ended with a tied score, except for the final period. The Vancouver Canucks (24-17-4) were able to score four goals in the third period to cut the Sabres down, 6-3.
Buffalo (19-19-7) was first to score at 8:44 into the game with a slap shot from Brandon Montour, just 39 seconds after a power play in which the Sabres maintained possession inside the Vancouver zone for the entire man advantage. This was Montour’s first point in 12 games and his first goal since November 21st.
The patience paid off 🙌#Sabres50 | @MontourBrandon pic.twitter.com/HWxVQxfHjL
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 11, 2020
The Canucks tied it at one with 4:27 remaining in the first period when Brock Boeser scored off a redirected shot.
In the second period, the Canucks took the lead 3:44 in with a goal scored by Bo Horvat. Buffalo tied the game with a true power-play goal from Sam Reinhart less than three minutes later. This was Reinhart’s third goal in his past four games, and he has scored in each of his last five games against Vancouver.
Sammy snipe! 🎯#Sabres50 pic.twitter.com/Rl29yzuV5N
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 11, 2020
At the beginning of the final period, Vancouver regained the lead 1:17 with a goal from J.T. Miller. Zemgus Girgensons tied the game a little over two minutes later when he redirected Kyle Okposo’s wrist shot from the blue line. After that, things went downhill for Buffalo. The Canucks scored a pair of goals 1:14 apart– First, Boeser scored his second goal of the game at 6:24 and Jake Virtanen then scored at the 7:38 mark to make it 5-3. Louis Eriksson scored an empty-net goal with 2:12 remaining, sealing the 6-3 victory for Vancouver.
Eichel extended his point streak to six games with two assists in this afternoon’s game. Dahlin extended his point streak to three games, also with a pair of assists. This is his fifth multi-point game of the season. Connor Sheary played his 300th career NHL game. Carter Hutton made 29 saves in his first start since December 19th. According NHL Public Relations, The Canucks have scored 151 goals this season (including shootout-deciding goals), the second-most among Western Conference teams behind Colorado (162).
The Sabres now head to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday at 5 p.m.