In Buffalo, Michael McLeod and Andreas Johnsson scored in the first period for the New Jersey Devils and the Sabres tried to play catch up for the rest of the match before losing, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon.
Eric Comrie made 30 saves to get his first win in the NHL in more than two years.
“He was awesome. Made some huge saves for us,” McLeod said.. “And he showed up in the big moments. He was great tonight and that was a huge win.”
Curtis Lazar and Rasmus Dahlin broke through for the Sabres to get the game tied at 2-2.
“They were hounding us persistently all night,” Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said. “I don’t think we were working smart within the framework we want to work in. Our puck management was really bad tonight. We were playing into their hustle, we were playing into their persistent checking. I wouldn’t say we didn’t work. I thought the guys worked hard to get us back from down [2-0] and then down 3-2 again with the late, painful goal.”
Rasmus Ristolainen also scored, getting the Sabres tied again, early in the third period.
“We didn’t play our ‘A’ game, that’s for sure,” Ristolainen said. “We didn’t start well and feel like they won more 1-on-1 battles. And the end of third, we were, for sure, the team who looked more tired out there.”
Miles Wood struck for two goals and McLeod added a second marker for the Devils.
“I’ve talked to him about being a really good player,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. “He’s got a tool that nobody really has in this league, and it’s just lightning speed. And using that tool to the best of his advantage, creating some opportunities. But being good with the puck, being responsible away from the play, he can add a lot to our hockey club.”
Wood’s second goal of the game came on empty-net effort.
“It certainly shows that we have a lot of fight for an extremely young team,” Wood said. “I think me and [Johnsson] were the two oldest forwards out there at 25 and 26 years old. So it’s an extremely young team and the fact that we kept on fighting throughout the game and we never got down on ourselves I think it just shows the type of group that we have. It’s a young group, but a fiery group.”
Carter Hutton made 32 saves in the loss.
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