Okposo leads Sabres over Oilers
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.
Jacob Josefson and Jack Eichel also scored for the Sabres (6-13-4), who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Robin Lehner made 29 saves and came 19 seconds short of recording his second shutout of the season.
Laurent Brossoit made 28 saves for Edmonton (8-13-2). Yohann Auvitu had Edmonton's lone goal.
Josefson opened the scoring with 5:44 remaining in the second. After some good work by Josefson down low, Kyle Okposo found Josefson in the left circle for a one-timer into the top of the net. It was Josefson's first goal as a Sabre; he has points (one goal, one assist) in consecutive games after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury.
Eichel made it 2-0 43 seconds into the third period. Skating through the right circle, Eichel picked up his seventh goal of the season on a shot to the short side.
Okposo added an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining.
The Oilers ended Lehner's shutout with 19 seconds remaining on Auvitu's goal.
Buffalo got a boost on the back end with the return of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Ristolainen returned to the lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. The defenseman had an assist on Buffalo's second goal of the evening.
Lehner's best stop came 5:57 into the third on a quick shot by defenseman Matt Benning from the slot. He also had a key stop on Jesse Puljujarvi after Puljujarvi came in all alone with 5:52 remaining.
The Sabres thought they opened the scoring 8:31 into the second period but had an apparent goal disallowed. Evander Kane poked the puck in the net after several attempts, but replay confirmed that the referee blew his whistle before the puck entered the net.
NOTES: D Josh Gorges, C Seth Griffith and LW Matt Moulson were scratched for the Sabres. ... RW Iiro Pakarinen and D Oscar Klefbom were scratched for the Oilers. ... D Zach Bogosian remains on injured reserve and has missed 23 games for the Sabres. ... Sabres LW Benoit Pouliot played for the Oilers from 2014-17, posting 84 points in 180 games. ... Oilers RW Zack Kassian was originally drafted by the Sabres in the first round of the 2009 draft. ... This was the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. The second and final meeting takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 23 in Edmonton.