The Buffalo Sabres and visiting Edmonton Oilers each come into their game on Monday night fresh off overtime wins.
The Sabres got their first road victory of the season and broke a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) by scoring four unanswered goals in a 5-4 come-from-behind road win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
“We were just desperate in the third period,” said Tage Thompson, who scored to make it 4-3 early in the third and set up defenseman Mattias Samuelsson’s overtime winner. “We’ve been losing a lot of games, and it is frustrating. We wanted to impose our will, get them back on their heels and try to gain the momentum.”
Ryan McLeod tied the game with a short-handed breakaway goal, and Samuelsson scored 1:05 into overtime after Thompson stole the puck by shoving Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat.
“We started winning battles,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “We weren’t doing that in the second period, and we were giving up goals.”
The Sabres only had 15 skaters available — 11 forwards and four defensemen — for most of the third period. Tyson Kozak, Michael Kesselring and Samuelsson left with injuries, though Samuelsson managed to return late in the period.
Ruff said Kesselring was unlikely to play on Monday and there was no update on Kozak.
Josh Doan had a goal and an assist and Alex Tuch also scored. Colten Ellis made 24 saves and got his first career point on an assist in the third period.
Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin returned after a three-game leave of absence. He was in Sweden with his fiancee, who underwent a heart transplant during the summer.
The Oilers earned their third OT win in the last four games with a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in Raleigh.
Leon Draisaitl scored 19 seconds into the extra period and added two assists.
Connor McDavid had two goals and assisted Draisaitl’s winner.
“We’ve had lots of opportunities, lots of games that have gone to overtime and we haven’t been able to be the difference a lot of nights,” McDavid said of his partnership with fellow star Draisaitl. “That’s what we get paid to do. We get paid to be the difference, and tonight we were able to do that.”
Edmonton recovered from blowing a 2-0 first period lead.
“They force you into mistakes and we made a few of them,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But (goaltender Stuart Skinner) played a really good, strong game. We had the 2-0 lead, but (Carolina) didn’t fade away at all. The difference tonight, (why) we were able to get the two points, was our best players
were our best players.”
Skinner stopped 33 shots and Jack Roslovic contributed a goal and an assist.
Zach Hyman had an assist and played more than 23 minutes in his season debut. He had been out with a dislocated right wrist that he sustained during last season’s Western Conference Final.
Hyman scored 144 goals over his first four years with the Oilers, who are in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip.
