Josh Norris scored twice in his return to the lineup, Josh Doan added two assists and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 at KeyBank Center on Monday.
Buffalo got out to a blazing 2-0 start in the first three minutes of the opening period. The Sabres scored twice in 15 seconds as Jason Zucker’s power play goal was followed by Bowen Byram’s fifth tally of the season.
Norris – who missed the previous 24 games after suffering an upper-body injury in the season opener – extended the Sabres lead to 3-0 in the first period with his first goal of the season.
Buffalo outshot Winnipeg 14-8 with 17 scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick – in all strengths – in the opening stanza. Tage Thompson recorded the primary assist on Norris’ goal. Thompson has 10 points in his last 10 games with six points in his last six home games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped the first 12 shots he faced before Kyle Connor scored his 13th of the season on a deflection to make it 3-1. Alex Tuch scored over a minute later from along the goal line as he shot the puck off the arm of Thomas Milic who replaced starter Eric Comrie.
Norris added his second goal 41 seconds into the third period as he went backhand between Milic’s legs on a breakaway. Zach Benson recorded his second assist of the game and his 11th of the year.
The Sabres totaled 32 scoring chances in all strengths with each forward line registering at least four.
Luukkonen made 23 saves and picked up his fourth win of the year. Luukkonen secured the 75th win of his NHL career and passed former Sabre goaltender Roger Crozier for sole possession for eighth all-time in franchise wins.
The Sabres secured back-to-back wins following their shootout win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, moved to 11-11-4 overall and 9-5-2 at KeyBank Center.
The Sabres begin their six-game road trip on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
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