Ward, Hurricanes prevail over Sabres
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Three players scored and Cam Ward made 22 saves to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes (14-11-7).
The Hurricanes dominated the Sabres throughout the game, outshooting Buffalo 34-23 overall. It was Carolina's second win over the Sabres in the past week; on Saturday, Carolina picked up a 2-1 shootout victory over Buffalo.
Johan Larsson scored the lone goal for the Sabres (12-12-8). Robin Lehner made 31 saves. The Sabres had a four-game point streak come to an end with the loss.
Skinner opened the scoring just 1:44 into the game following a defensive miscue by the Sabres, who surrendered the first goal for the sixth consecutive game. The Carolina center was left all alone in the right circle, where he faked a one-timer and scored on a wrist shot to the far side. It was Skinner's team-best 13th goal.
Faulk made it 2-0 on a 3-on-1 rush following yet another Sabres miscue with 2:09 left in the first period. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin waited for Faulk to arrive in the left circle, and Faulk buried a wrist shot high to the glove side for his sixth goal of the season.
Carolina's dominance continued in the second period when the Hurricanes outshot the Sabres, 13-5. The highlight of the period came when Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian fought Hurricanes center Jordan Staal, with Bogosian getting the upper hand.
Larsson got the Sabres on the board 5:32 into the third period. Center Sam Reinhart waited patiently behind the Carolina net before spotting Larsson in front. Larsson's quick one-timer cut Carolina's lead to 2-1.
The Sabres had a prime opportunity to even the score on the power play with 6:56 remaining but came up short. Ward made a big save on Jack Eichel's one-timer with 5:47 remaining.
Aho scored an empty-net goal with 59.7 seconds remaining.
NOTES: D Cody Franson and LW William Carrier were scratched for the Sabres. Franson was a late scratch. ... D Klas Dahlbeck, D Ryan Murphy and C Andrej Nestrasil were scratched for the Hurricanes. ... Hurricanes RW Lee Stempniak was born in West Seneca, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. He played for the Buffalo Lightning of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2000-01. ... This was the second of three meetings between the two teams this season, and the only meeting at KeyBank Center this season. The third and final meeting between Buffalo and Carolina takes place at PNC Arena on Jan. 13.