In Buffalo, Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Cozens exchanged two-goal efforts in the second period on Friday night.
It was Cozens’ efforts that made the difference in a 3-2 win to the Sabres over the Edmonton Oilers.
“It’s a big confidence boost, for sure, to go against one of the top players in the world,” Cozens said. “I was excited. I wanted to be up for the challenge and it’s not just me, though. The whole team played a great game and my linemates and everyone. It was a big team effort to shut them down in the third (period) there.”
Buffalo improved to 6-5-2.
Dustin Tokarski made 33 saves in the Buffalo win.
“Obviously, a lot of goals are scored right around the net,” Cozens said. “I’ve been watching lots of video with Donny and trying to find ways to get to the net and use my speed. Not always skating as fast as I can all the time. Yeah, I just tried to get the puck to the net and get rewarded sometimes.”
Draisaitl scored in the second period after Buffalo’s Anders Bjork had given the Sabres a 1-0 lead.
“We allowed them to score easy goals and we chased the game the whole night,” Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. “There was some effort there, but we just didn’t play very smart.”
Stuart Skinner made 20 saves in the Oilers loss.
“It’s not a position we want to put ourselves in night after night,” the Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Last night (a 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins when they trailed three times) obviously we battled back. It was an emotional game and we found a way to come from behind, but it’s not always that easy. We definitely pushed in the third tonight, but overall we need to be better in the early part of the game. It cost us tonight.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.