A game after scoring three and then holding off the New York Rangers for a 3-2 win on Friday, the Buffalo Sabres turned the tables in their opposition’s favor and surrendered three first period goals to go down, 0-3.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal for the Ducks – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Sabres rallied for two goals but fell, 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Getzlaf and Nick Ritchie struck for first period goals for the Anaheim Ducks.
“We’ve been at the opposite end of point streaks, now we’re gaining some,” Anaheim’s Michael Del Zotto said. “We may not have our best game every single night, but part of maturing as a hockey club is to get one or two points in those games, especially on the road as well.”
Well, let’s not get carried away this was the Buffalo Sabres.
Ryan Miller made 31 saves in the win.
The Ducks went 3-0-2 on their five-game roadie.
“All of this has been nice. I enjoy playing and winning is what makes it more enjoyable,” Miller said. “It’s nice to be able to do that a number of times. I guess when I look back, I never would’ve expected to be on a list like that or playing this long, so I try to appreciate the opportunities and it’s been fun.”
Johan Larsson and Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres.
“We didn’t have the battle in us that we had early in New York the other day (3-2 win on Friday),” Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger said. “What we were doing in the third to generate that traffic, and the movement in the offensive zone that led to multiple opportunities, is definitely something that we need to take with us. It’s our game. It is really who we want to be, and we were not who we wanted to be the first 10 minutes, there’s no question about it. Fifty minutes of it wasn’t enough today because they just took such advantage of us not being ready at the start.”
Miller held the fort while the Ducks were outshot, 15-5 in the third period.
“I think we’re learning lessons, for sure,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “To have a lead going into the third is something we haven’t been afforded a whole bunch of this year. It’s not like we’ve had great practice at protecting leads, and so that certainly is a positive, even though I’m not sure our third period was the greatest one. But we will learn some lessons there.”
[WATCH: All Ducks vs. Sabres highlights]
Jonas Johansson made 25 saves in the loss.
“It was, for sure, a little bounce back. So that felt nice,” Johansson said. “But I got to get better at starts. I felt like I let the team down a little bit at the start. So I got to step up there and be better to help the team collect points here.”
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