Zach Benson ended a 35-game goal drought, and the Buffalo Sabres secured their first regulation road win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin also scored, while Alex Lyon made 29 saves. The victory improves Buffalo to 13-14-4 and marks their second straight overall win.
Dahlin opened the scoring 7:36 into the first period, one-timing a feed from Ryan McLeod for a slap shot from the deep slot. Dahlin extended his multi-point streak at Rogers Arena to five games. Vancouver tied it late in the period when Kiefer Sherwood deflected the puck off Conor Timmins and past Lyon with 10.6 seconds remaining. Max Sasson gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead early in the second, but Thompson quickly responded, ripping a wrist shot past Thatcher Demko for his 15th goal of the season.
Buffalo took the lead for good at 14:46 of the second when Benson blasted a one-timer from Josh Doan on the power play. Vancouver pressed late, pulling Demko for an extra attacker, but Lyon and the Sabres’ defense held firm.
The Sabres played without Alex Tuch, who missed the game due to illness, and Trevor Kuntar made his NHL debut.
The Sabres close out their six-game road trip on Sunday when they visit the Seattle Kraken at 8 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].