Evander Kane and the Buffalo Sabres brought relentless pressure on Wednesday night. The payoff came just in time.
Kane tied it with 4 minutes, 29 seconds left with his first goal for Buffalo, and the Sabres came back to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in a shootout.
“We felt we weren’t going to be shut out, and we made that happen,” Kane said.
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Kane tied it on the team’s 33rd shot when he pushed a wrister over Bernier’s shoulder. Buffalo acquired Kane from Winnipeg in February, but he was unable to play until this season after having shoulder surgery.
“We definitely deserved to win that one,” Kane said. “We worked hard for it from the start, got down early, but kept battling and were able to get the victory.”
Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis scored in the shootout, while Chad Johnson made 23 saves as Buffalo improved to 2-4.
P.A. Parenteau scored and Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves as the Maple Leafs fell to 1-3-2.
Buffalo have won six straight at home against the Leafs, part of a 16-1-1 run of home dominance against Toronto.
Buffalo got off to a fast start, but it was Parenteau who opened the scoring when he redirected Roman Polak’s shot from the right point over Johnson’s shoulder at the 1:28 mark.
The game went to three-on-three overtime, in which the Sabres quickly had a three-on-one foiled by Bernier.
Johnson made an acrobatic left pad save to stop Kadri deep into overtime, and Toronto missed two further chances to score.
“It happened so fast I was sort of in desperation mode at that point and I just stuck my leg out,” Johnson said. “You’re just sort of in the moment at that stage of the game.”
In the first, Kane picked up a loose puck to spring a two-on-one with rookie Jack Eichel, but elected to make a pass that was pushed away from danger.
The pair was responsible for much of the Sabres’ attack, with 13 of Buffalo’s 35 shots on goal.
“It took us to almost shot 35 to break them,” Eichel said. “And we needed that. Maybe now we’ll get on a roll, and I think this is a team that can do that.”
Bernier made a point-blank stop on Moulson during a Buffalo power play about nine minutes into the period, and then denied Kane moments later.
Off Tyler Ennis’ takeaway at the blue line, Nicolas Deslauriers put a shot past Bernier but off the cross bar.
Buffalo finished the first with a 12-6 advantage in shots.
Toronto took eight of the first nine second-period shots, but Buffalo started to find its form with Nick Spaling in the box for interfering with Johnson.
Bernier stopped five shots on the power play, including a pair of scrums near his crease.
Buffalo took control of the third period midway through and raised the Leafs’ ire when Kane plowed through Dion Phaneuf near the blue line, dropping Toronto’s captain to the ice with a high stick.
“I don’t quite understand, we should have been on the power play four minutes in the third and we weren’t at all,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “So that’s disappointing, but it’s also part of life.”
Ennis and Cody Franson each had chances to beat Bernier during a possession with about six minutes left, but the Toronto goaltender saved both.
Bernier said his strong performance was in response to Babcock.
“He challenged me behind the doors, too,” Bernier said. “That’s part of the job. I’ve got to be better. You’ve got to take it, you can’t take it too personally.”
OILERS 3, RED WINGS 1
In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor McDavid scored his fourth goal of the season to help the Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, the 18-year-old McDavid beat Petr Mrazek with a deke on a breakaway to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead at 6:34 of the second period. He also has two assists in his first seven NHL games.
Edmonton have won three straight after losing their first four games. The Oilers also snapped an eight-game losing streak against Detroit.
Teddy Purcell scored 30 seconds after McDavid’s goal. Mark Letestu scored his first goal for Edmonton on a first-period power play. Cam Talbot made 28 saves, allowing only Tomas Tatar’s third-period goal.
The Red Wings have lost three straight, after winning their first three games.
FLYERS 5, BRUINS 4, OT
In Boston, Claude Giroux scored his second power-play goal of the game at 2:09 of overtime to left Philadelphia past Boston.
Giroux one-timed a shot past Tuukka Rask from the left circle with Ryan Spooner off for hooking.
Philadelphia overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period. Giroux cut it to 4-3 at 7:48, and Wayne Simmonds tied it at 9:36.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Sam Gagner also scored for the Flyers.
Chris Kelly, Jimmy Hayes, Brett Connolly and Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston. The Bruins have lost their first four home games this season.
HURRICANES 1, AVALANCHE 0, OT
In Denver, Colorado, Victor Rask scored 1:49 into overtime to end Carolina’s 10-game losing streak in Colorado.
Cam Ward made 26 saves in his first shutout of the season and 23rd of his career.
Colorado’s second group in the extra period got caught on the ice, leading to the goal. Ryan Murphy fed Rask in the slot, and Rask took the puck to the front of the net and beat Semyon Varlamov with a backhander. Varlamov finished with 18 saves.
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