Sabres keep Coyotes winless at home
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Okposo scored with one second remaining in the first period to swing the momentum and start Buffalo on a run of five consecutive goals, and the Sabres kept the Arizona Coyotes winless at home by taking a 5-4 decision Thursday night.
Benoit Pouliot had two goals and an assist, and Buffalo linemate Ryan O'Reilly added three assists to support Robin Lehner, who stopped 25 shots despite giving up three Arizona goals in the final eight minutes. The Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo line totaled eight points to help fend off the Coyotes' late comeback attempt.
Antti Raanta made an uneven return to net for the Coyotes, who are 0-5-1 at Gila River Arena and an NHL-worst 1-12-1 overall. Raanta, who sat out nine games with a lower-body injury, made 26 saves but couldn't fend off a succession of odd-man rushes in which Pouliot, Seth Griffith and Evander Kane scored.
Arizona played a strong first period and scored the opening goal for an NHL-best 10th time in 14 games. Oliver Ekman-Larsson put a wrist shot past Lehner from the low slot off Max Domi's drop pass 13:25 into the period. Domi got his 100th NHL point.
The game shifted dramatically after the Coyotes, playing sloppily in their own end, allowed Pouliot to grab a rebound of O'Reilly's shot off the end boards and slip it to Okposo in the right circle for his first of the season
The Sabres (4-7-2), clearly lifted by the late goal, took the lead for good when O'Reilly grabbed a loose puck and fed Pouliot for on an undefended tap-in 4:20 into the second. Griffith finished off a three-on-one break by putting a backhander under the crossbar at 14:36.
Kane and Jack Eichel kept the offense rolling by working a two-on-none short-handed breakaway 6:16 into the third, with Kane getting his team-high seventh goal. Later in the period, Pouliot got his fourth of the season and second of the game to make it 5-1, before the Coyotes got goals later in the period from Zac Rinaldo -- his first for Arizona and first in 43 NHL games -- and Nick Cousins and Christian Dvorak.
NOTES: Sabres G Robin Lehner is 3-0-0 against Arizona. ... Sabres RW Justin Bailey (lower-body injury) sat out. ... Arizona waived D Adam Clendening, who has played for six NHL teams since being drafted in 2011. ... Coyotes D Niklas Hjalmarsson was out with an upper-body injury that could sideline him for Saturday's game against Carolina. D Dakota Mermis, called up from AHL Tucson, played his first NHL game in his place. ... Arizona scored first for the 10th time in 14 games. ... Neither team was called for a penalty until Buffalo D Matt Tennyson went off for hooking 11:07 into the second period. ... Arizona is the last team in the NHL without a home-ice win.