On Friday afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the New Jersey Devils for a matinee Metropolitan showdown, marking the teams’ first of three matchups of the season.
The Devils looked to extend their win streak to three games after a Thanksgiving Eve victory over the St. Louis Blues. Meanwhile, the Sabres attempted to bounce back from a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. In the end, it was the Devils who came out on top, with a 5-0 win on Black Friday.
Game Recap
Just three minutes into the first period, a fight broke out between Tage Thompson and Stefan Noesen, ending with a five-minute major for both players. The Sabres then had a small scrum in front of the Devils’ net — but the puck rolled in after the whistle was already blown, so the ruling was that there was no goal.
Nico Hischier put the Devils on the board 12:07 into the opening period, after Timo Meier took advantage of a turnover behind the net. The puck bounced off Alex Tuch’s skate, and Hischier was able to fire it past Alex Lyon. After 20 minutes, shots were 10-9 in favor of the Sabres.
During the second period, Arseny Gritsyuk put the Devils up 2-0 on a centering pass from Dawson Mercer. Shortly after, Cody Glass received a penalty for hooking, but the Sabres were unable to score on the power play.
The Devils earned their first power play of the evening after Jack Quinn went to the box for holding Jesper Bratt, but New Jersey could not capitalize. Less than two minutes later, Gritsyuk was called for interference, but the score remained deadlocked at 2-0 for the remainder of the second period.
Early on in the third, the Devils took a 3-0 lead after Brenden Dillon buried the puck with the help of Connor Brown. But it quickly turned into a four-goal lead when Paul Cotter raced up the ice on a breakaway and scored on the backhand.
Gritsyuk earned his second goal with three minutes left in the third, marking the first multi-goal game of his NHL career. And the Devils earned their first shutout win of the season, defeating the Sabres 5-0.
Jake Allen was the hero for the Devils, stopping all 42 shots that came his way. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Lyon stopped 18 out of 23 shots faced.
Looking Ahead
Both teams will wrap up the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night. The Devils will face the Philadelphia Flyers at home in the Prudential Center, and the Sabres will travel to the Grand Casino Arena to take on the Minnesota Wild.
