New York. Buffalo has certainly emerged from a deep slump.
They beat Montreal 7-2 yesterday and followed that up with a 6-2 win over St. Louis last night.
– We continued the energy we had yesterday, says coach Don Granato.
After an exciting start to the season, traveling across the continent and beating every possible opponent, the Sabers fell into a deep slump going into this week losing eight straight games.
But it can now be safely said that they are out of this slump.
Just one day after a 7-2 victory over Montreal, they defeated the then-convincing St. Louis Blues 6-2 at home at the Keybank Center.
– Yes, we built on the energy from the Montreal game and continued in the same way, says coach Don Granato.
– Plus, we’ve got a new fan feed here in the lounge. The weather was great tonight.
Jeff Skinner and 21-year-old rookie Jack Quinn each scored twice, and Viktor Olofsson also scored into the net – as is often the case with a terrible direct hit in a power play.
There were more heavyweights than the New Jersey Devils down in the final round before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Boston also has its winning streak, seven games long, snapped — away from Florida.
The Panthers won 5-2 and the big hero was guard Spencer Knight, who stopped 37 shots.
Speaking of good goaltenders: Ilya Sorokin hit 49 shots for the New York Islanders on Long Island, helping to eliminate the Edmonton Oilers.
– But we had a lot of good players tonight, says coach Len Lambert.
And Sebastian Ahu – the Swedish defender who bears the same name as the Carolina star – contributed to the 3-0 victory with his second goal of the season, when he joined the attack late in the third period and fired a direct shot.
On the ice for the islanders, for the first time, was Swede Simon Holmström.
The Vancouver Canucks usually lose the lead in the third period. Last night it was the opposite. They lost 3-2 to Colorado in Denver after 40 minutes, but eventually turned around and won 4-3.
Oliver Ekman-Larson assisted two goals and Elias Peterson assisted.
The New York Rangers’ joy in California was short-lived. One day after a comeback against the Los Angeles Kings, they were beaten 3-2 by a much more modest Anaheim Ducks team.
Mika Zibanejad was in charge of the performance.
Washington was out badly in its home game against Philadelphia. With three minutes remaining, they were trailing 2-1 – after a couple of great saves by Felix Sandström in Flyers territory.
But then Sonny Milano equalized and then Alex Ovetjkin made the decision in extra time with the help of Erik Gustafsson.
– It’s never been in our way before and at some point we have to dig ourselves out of the hole. That’s a start, says trainer Peter Laviolette.
Already playing power in the first period, Marcus Johansson scored his fifth goal of the season.
The Dallas Stars had the fastest turnover of the season in their home game against Chicago.
Halfway through the third period, they were down 4-1, but then, in the space of just under ten minutes, they scored five goals in a row, thus winning 6-4.
In Raleigh, it sure seemed like the mighty Carolina Hurricanes players were already starting to think about Thursday’s turkey dinner.
They played a real game and were beaten 4-0 by Arizona.
“Something has to happen here, we have to start pushing each other and showing some emotion,” sighs veteran Jordan Stahl.
What falls to Winnipeg is not clear, Thanksgiving was already celebrated in Canada in October – but they still completely collapsed in tonight’s “derby” against Minnesota, losing 6-1.
– Six goals… Coach Dean Evason Kos strengthens us.
Joel Ericsson answered Ek for two assists and in the penalty area Philip Gustafsson made sure that he stopped 28 shots.
Other results tonight: Pittsburgh beat Calgary 2-1 on penalties, Detroit beat Nashville to win 3-0 (Jonathan Berggren had an assist) and Montreal beat Columbus 3-1 on the road.