Sabres' offense overwhelms Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta -- No Eichel, no Kane, no problem.
With offensive stars Evander Kane and Jack Eichel out due to long-term injury problems, the Buffalo Sabres showed some depth in the lineup with a 6-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday at Rogers Place.
Ryan O'Reilly and Brian Gionta each scored twice, and O'Reilly finished the night with four points. Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner made 31 saves.
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot had night to forget, allowing six goals on just 23 shots -- including one that came from center ice.
After giving up four goals on 15 shots, Talbot was yanked in favor of Jonas Gustavsson. However, Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson collided with Gustavsson late in the second period. As Gustavsson was trying to stop a shot, Larsson fell on top of the goalie.
Gustavsson was down for several minutes but then was yanked during the second intermission because he took a blow to the head.
Just 38 seconds after returning to the game, Talbot gave up the Sabres' fifth goal of the night. Gionta's shot went right through the netminder's legs.
Matt Moulson made it 6-2 with a power-play goal at 4:36 of the third.
Kyle Okposo, who missed the opener with a bad knee, made his Sabres debut and got onto the scoresheet just 2:37 into the game, finishing off a nifty pass from center Sam Reinhart. The goal came just seconds after Lehner stretched to make a sensational save on Oilers rookie Jesse Puljujarvi.
At 7:14 of the first, with the Sabres on the power play, Okposo made a smart pass from the point to O'Reilly, and the Buffalo center obliged by ripping a shot into the roof of the Oilers' net. O'Reilly had ripped a shot off the post earlier in the man advantage.
Buffalo dominated most of the first period, but the home team got life after coach Todd McLellan juggled the lines, replacing Connor McDavid with Leon Draisaitl on the Oilers' top unit. The coach's gamble paid off -- for a few minutes, at least.
With 2:40 left in the period, Benoit Pouliot directed home a rebound from a Zack Kassian shot.
Then, with 50 seconds left in the period, the Oilers made it 2-2. Milan Lucic put home a rebound from a Draisaitl shot. It was Lucic's 400th career NHL point.
However, the Sabres took back the lead at 3:53 of the second thanks to an absolute gift from Talbot. O'Reilly dumped the puck into the Oilers' zone from near center ice, and it skipped through the goalie. The capacity crowd at Rogers Place gave Talbot a mocking cheer when he made his next save.
The Sabres restored their two-goal lead midway through the third, as Gionta deflected Jake McCabe's point shot. The play went through two review processes; first, to determine that Gionta didn't use a high stick, and second, to deny McLellan's challenge that Gionta interfered with the goaltender.
NOTES: How potent was the Oilers' offense in the first week of the season? Going into the Sunday game, only five players on Edmonton's active roster who played at least a game each had yet to register a point. ... Sabres RW Kyle Okposo was in the lineup after missing the season opener with a knee injury. ... Buffalo D Dmitry Kulikov made his regular-season debut after missing the opener with a tailbone injury. ... The Oilers beat the Sabres 2-1 in overtime in the teams' most recent meeting, on March 1 in Buffalo. C Connor McDavid scored both Edmonton goals. ... The Sabres called up RW Nicholas Baptiste from their AHL affiliate in Rochester, N.Y., but he was a healthy scratch. Buffalo D Casey Nelson also was scratched. ... The Oilers scratched D Mark Fayne, D Matthew Benning and LW Anton Slepyshev.