BUFFALO
Adidas Jordan Schroeder Jersey , N.Y. (AP) Don’t tell Jason Pominville and the Buffalo Sabres they have nothing to play for.For a team all but mathematically out of playoff contention, the Sabres continued making a dent in in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 5-3 win against their cross-border and Atlantic Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.”It’s an easy game to get prepared for,” said Pominville, one of four Sabres to score a goal and assist. ”You know it’s going to be a great atmosphere in our building with the fans they get.”The Sabres silenced the large contingent of ”Go, Leafs, Go!”-chanting fans by building a 2-0 lead within the first four minutes. And after the Maple Leafs tied the game, Buffalo responded by scoring three times and sealed the victory on Johan Larsson’s goal midway through the third period.Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons also scored for Buffalo, while Chad Johnson stopped 38 shots in extending the Maple Leafs’ skid to 0-2-2.Though the Sabres remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, they improved to 7-5-2 in their last 14 games. It’s a three-week stretch during which Buffalo has defeated each of the division’s three top teams, including Boston twice.Pominville also showed he hasn’t lost his touch against Toronto.Re-acquired by the Sabres in a trade last summer after a four-plus-season stint in Minnesota, Pominville now has 19 goals and 50 points in 51 career games with Buffalo against Toronto.”Wow
Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey ,” the former Sabres captain said. ”I should play them more often.”Leo Komarov had two goals and Mitch Marner also scored for Toronto.Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots in allowing five goals for the second consecutive outing after being yanked midway through a 5-2 loss to Washington in an outdoor game played at the U.S. Naval Academy on Saturday.The only consolation for Andersen this time was he couldn’t be faulted on Buffalo’s first four goals, all of which were set up by fortunate bounces.The Sabres led 2-0 after Reinhart and Pominville deflected in shots from the right point by Rasmus Ristolainen. Girgensons put Buffalo up 3-2 when Reinhart’s shot from a bad angle banked in off his skate.The Sabres received yet another break in going up 4-2 when Toronto defenseman Ron Hainsey’s clearing attempt struck referee Kendrick Nicholson’s skate. The puck caromed directly to O’Reilly, who scored from the right circle.”That was pretty crazy. I think it seemed like everything just hit something and found a way into the net,” Andersen said. ”In the big picture, they earned their bounces.”Leafs coach Mike Babcock couldn’t fault Andersen, though he took issue with the NHL for allowing Larsson’s goal to stand up following a video review for goaltender interference.After stopping Pominville’s one-timer from the left circle, Andersen was knocked off balance from behind by Larsson, who was skating through the crease. Larsson then corralled the rebound and swept it under Andersen.Babcock challenged the call by saying Larsson first collided with Andersen while the two were in the crease.”What they told me is he was interfered with outside the paint, which is not true and that, tonight, was goalie interference no matter what way you look at it,” Babcock said.Toronto has matched its longest skid of the season
Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , which comes after the Leafs enjoyed a 13-2 run.”The bottom line is you’ve got to get it turned around. We can’t continue to lose hockey games,” Babcock said.NOTES: The Sabres continued their home dominance over Toronto, improving to 19-3-1 in their past 23 meetings at Buffalo. … One of the more amusing moments came when television cameras captured an exchange between Ristolainen and Toronto’s Nazem Kadri, after the two were sent to the penalty box for fighting in the second period. Ristolainen held up four fingers in telling Kadri the teams play four more times. Kadri responded by correcting Ristolainen, saying it’s only three more times because Monday’s game didn’t count. … Maple Leafs LW Matt Martin had an assist while playing for the first time since a 4-2 loss to Colorado on Jan. 22. Martin had been a healthy scratch for 18 consecutive games.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Get four-day break before hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.Sabres: Host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.— LAS VEGAS (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy has a knack for shutouts — and then backing them up.Vasilevskiy followed his first shutout of the season by stopping 29 of 31 shots, J.T. Miller scored his third goal of the season and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Friday.The 24-year-old Russian goaltender, who blanked Colorado on Wednesday, went 6-1-1 last season in games following a shutout.“He’s just a good young goaltender. He was in a zone again tonight, you could see he was just tracking pucks,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “Our guys did a good job of letting him see pucks. … If he can see them, he’s usually gonna stop them. He was nominated for the Vezina (Trophy) last year, and that wasn’t by fluke. When we have our breakdowns
Adidas Cam Ward Jersey , he’s been a rock for us. Give Vegas credit, they made a big push, but our goalie was there when we needed him and it’s a big win in a tough spot on the road.”Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning, who have not lost in regulation since their second game of the season, going 6-0-1 over that stretch.Shea Theodore and William Karlsson scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves.Ten games into their inaugural season, the Golden Knights were 8-2-0. They didn’t lose their fifth game until Nov. 7. Now, the defending Western Conference champions are 4-5-1 and sixth in the Pacific Division.“Every year is a new year, so what you did the year before means absolutely nothing,” Tampa Bay center Steven Stamkos said. “I’m sure if you ask them they’d say the same thing. Every year you have to go out and prove yourself as an individual, and you have to prove yourself as a team. They’re a still a good team over there. You’re not going to start the year with a great record every time. It’s how you grow as a team. They still got the pieces to be an elite team in this league.”One piece that needs to improve for the Golden Knights is the power play. Though it notched a power play goal on Friday, Vegas still has the league’s worst conversion rate with a man advantage
Adidas Matt Calvert Jersey , now 3 for 32. Tampa Bay owns the league’s best penalty kill (35 of 37).Johnson put the Lightning on the board early in the first period when he spotted a rebound in front of the net and chipped a shot past Fleury. Ryan Carpenter used the boards to slide a perfect pass to Theodore, who blasted a one-timer through traffic from the blue line and past Vasilevskiy to tie game a couple of minutes later. Later in the first, Stamkos delivered a pass into the slot for Point, who tapped the puck past Fleury.Miller extended the lead to 3-1 early in the second. He was positioned perfectly in front of net when the puck deflected off him and past Fleury for a power-play goal.Vegas outshot the Lightning 13-1 in the third period but came up empty after Karlsson ripped a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy on the glove side for a power-play goal with 18:13 left.“I think there were some chances,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “We’ve just got to keep executing and work at it.”Tampa Bay blocked 27 shots, including 17 in the third period.“They had a lot of opportunities and they come at you with a lot of speed. It’s tough to contain,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “I think our best player, for sure, in the third period was (Vasilevskiy). We had to block some shots. We gotta continue to play with a little more assertiveness in the third, especially with the lead.”NOTES: Vegas’ Max Pacioretty exited the game in the first period and did not return. … Theodore’s goal marked Vegas’ first from a defenseman this season. … Vasilevskiy came into the game having allowed just two goals in first periods this season; his .966 first-period save percentage was tops in the NHL. … Stamkos needs one goal to reach 350 for his career. … Miller will reach the 200-point plateau with his next point. … Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman left in the first period with an undisclosed injury, and Cooper said “there’s a good chance he’s not playing tomorrow” in Arizona. … The Lightning have scored on the power play in four straight games and six of their last seven.UP NEXTLightning: Visit Arizona on Saturday.Golden Knights: Host Ottawa on Sunday.
