Evander Kane and Nicholas Baptiste each scored a goal and an assist en route to the 3-2 Buffalo win. Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the home team.
St. Louis got things off to a good start, as Vladimir Tarasenko scored just 91 seconds into the game. Jaden Schwartz and Joel Edmundson assisted on the goal. Baptiste tied it for Buffalo at 9:34 of the first period. Jack Eichel got his 19th assist on the goal. Kane got his 11th.
At 11:58 of the second period, Kane made it 2-1 Buffalo, assisted by Zach Bogosian and Baptiste. O’Reilly scored his 13th of the year while the Sabres had a two-man advantage at 19:28 of the second. Rasmus Ristolainen and Kyle Okposo assisted.
Buffalo pressed to increase the lead but St. Louis’ Scottie Upshall scored a short-handed goal at 15:03 of the third to bring the Blues to within one. A late penalty called against Robin Lehner gave St. Louis a chance to tie it in the final minutes, but the Sabres refused to let up.
The win gives Buffalo a 26-23-10 standing for 62 points — one point out of the final wild card playoff spot currently held by the Toronto Maple Leafs, although Toronto has three games at hand, as do the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders, who both also have 62 points.
Image courtesy of Buffalo Sabres/Twitter.
