Landeskog leads Avalanche past Sabres
DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and an assist, and the Avalanche beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Saturday night.
Blake Comeau had a goal and an assist, Tyson Barrie and Mikhail Grigorenko also scored and Jeremy Smith stopped 32 shots for Colorado.
Marcus Foligno, Evan Rodrigues had goals, and Sam Reinhart also scored in his return after missing two games for Buffalo. Robin Lehner stopped 25 shots for the Sabres, who continued the poor record for teams coming out of the league-mandate five-day rest period. NHL teams are 6-14-4 after their break.
Buffalo failed to gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Sabres had a chance to pass Philadelphia in the wild card and gain a point on Toronto in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo (26-25-10) is five points behind the Maple Leafs and sits 12th in the conference.
The Sabres pulled Lehner for an extra skater with 2:02 remaining and Landeskog scored into the empty net with 39.4 seconds left.
Colorado (17-40-3) got a rare home win with a strong start offensively.
Landeskog got Colorado on the board at 2:06 of the first period when he tipped in a shot by Mark Barberio for his 12th goal of the season.
Grigorenko and Barrie scored 1:42 apart later in the period to give Colorado a 3-0 lead.
The Sabres got one back late in the first period when Reinhart scored a power-play goal at 17:11. Foligno made it a one-goal game when he scored at 9:55 of the second.
Comeau gave Colorado a 4-2 lead when he scored on a rebound at 16:07, but Buffalo responded again with Rodrigues' goal at 17:40 of the second.
NOTES: C Nathan MacKinnon and LW Matt Nieto had two assists apiece for the Avalanche. ... LW Rene Bourque's return after missing 11 games with a head injury sidelined Colorado C Carl Soderberg. Soderberg had played in 228 straight games, the longest on the Avalanche, before being scratched. ... Buffalo C Sam Reinhart scored in his last two games. ... Avalanche LW Mikko Rantanen has at least one point in five of the last seven contests. ... Sabres C Zemgus Girgensons returned after missing seven games with a mid-body injury. ... Avalanche D Erik Johnson had an assist in his first game since Dec. 3.