In Tempe, the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game on Saturday with a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
Three Sabres goals in the second half of the third period broke a 2-2 tie.
Tage Thompson scored off the power play midway through the third to give the Sabres the lead for good at 3-2.
“He’s so hot right now, everything he touches [goes in],” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “His teammates try to find him all the time, whenever he’s open, the puck is going to him. You cannot make one mistake, because they always know where he is.”
Craig Anderson made 29 saves in the Buffalo win.
“We were keeping it simple,” Thompson said. “We knew they’d played last night, and I think our game plan was just to keep it simple and wear them down.”
The Sabres improved to 15-14-2.
Jeff Skinner hit for a double in the win.
“Any time you’re away from the game, watching, it gives you that little bit of hunger to get back in there,” Thompson said of Skinner, who was suspended for an illegal cross-check on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel on Dec. 9. “I know he was itching to get in there and he had a great game.”
Skinner traded goals over the first two periods with the Coyotes’Â Barrett Hayton and Shayne Gostisbehere to send the game to the third tied, 2-2.
“Skinner coming back in the lineup was significant, very impactful,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “We kept battling, it was not easy. That’s not an easy team to play against.”
Arizona dropped to 10-15-4.
Buffalo added two empty-net goals late for the 5-2 final, Tyson Jost and Kyle Okposo were the scorers.
“The team’s been rolling pretty well lately and had a good last couple of games, so I just tried to slide in there and read off them,” Skinner said.
Connor Ingram made 38 saves in the loss.
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