In Buffalo, the Sabres’ Dylan Cozens tied their match with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, 2-2, with 41 seconds of fresh ice used in the third period.
The Oilers’ Connor McDavid replied at 3:23 of the third for the game-winner i a 3-2 win to the Oilers over the Sabres.
McDavid scored twice in the game, and now has 124 points on the season through 65 games.
“He’s the best player in the world and he’s pushing his own boundaries, personal bests in those categories,” Edmonton forward Zach Hyman said. “He’s driving the bus. He’s been driving the bus for a long time and continues to get better.”
Stuart Skinner made 37 saves in the Edmonton win.
“I thought Stuart played a very good game for us,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He gave us a chance to win the game. You’ve got to give credit to the other team too. They have a lot of skill there. They’re going to get their looks, and when you get your looks, you’ve got to make sure that your goaltender is there for you. And Stuart was there for us tonight. He gave us a chance to win.”
The Oilers improved to 35-22-8.
“We had lots of looks,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “We missed the net quite a few times, too, on some point-blank chances that now, after the fact, it’s very frustrating, because that turned out to be the difference in the game. We generated more than enough to win that game.”
The Sabres dropped to 32-26-4 on their third loss in four games.
McDavid scored his first of the night at 7:21 of the first period.
Jeff Skinner hit off the power play midway through the first to tie the game, 1-1, for Buffalo.
“As a team, we were confident, we were ready to play today,” Buffalo forward Casey Mittelstadt said. “I feel like the boys were loose and ready to go before the game. I was happy with our start. … We had a ton of chances in the first. Honestly, it was one of those games where we had so many chances, we were just waiting for them to go in. It just didn’t happen tonight.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers up, 2-1, with less than two minutes left in the middle frame.
“We talk a lot about momentum shifts, and that’s an area as a team we want to get better at,” Woodcroft said. “I would say this, you’re going to Connor, and that’s the finish. … There’s a lot of good plays that led to that finish, and the finish was all world.”
Craig Anderson made 34 saves in the Buffalo loss.
“I think the [defenseman] got back and kind of forced me to do that (spin) if I wanted to get a shot off, and I just tried to put it on net and it found its way in,” Cozens said of his tying goal.
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