The Buffalo Sabres concluded their four-game road trip through Seattle and Western Canada with a stop in Edmonton for a Saturday matinee against the Oilers. This was a high-event, high-shooting affair with Buffalo outshooting Edmonton 41-34. Despite that, the Oilers came away with a narrow 3-2 victory. Here’s your game recap.
Game Recap
The Sabres opened the scoring 16:28 into the first period courtesy of Alex Tuch for his 16th goal of the season. An Oiler giveaway in the neutral zone resulted in a rush chance, and Jason Zucker found Tuch with a cross-seem pass. Goaltender Stuart Skinner got a piece of the shot, but not enough as it found the back of the net. Then, former Sabre Jeff Skinner tied the game at one just 17 seconds later for his eighth of the season. Ty Emberson’s point shot was stopped by goaltender James Reimer, but Skinner found the rebound and made no mistake. Edmonton had a 12-5 shot advantage through the opening frame.
Related: Projected Lineups for the Sabres vs Oilers – 1/25/25
Buffalo regained the lead on Jiri Kulich’s ninth of the season as his one-timer found the twine 7:46 into the second frame. Then, Edmonton found the equalizer 13:20 into the period. Kasperi Kapanen sped through the zone, spun around the defender, drove the puck around the net, and found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in front who buried his 14th of the season. Just like the first period, this game was tied after two.
After being outshot 11-2 to start the third period, the Oilers took their first lead of the game on Nugent-Hopkins’ second goal of the contest. Darnell Nurse’s cross-seem pass found Nugent-Hopkins and his one-timer beat a sprawling Reimer 8:59 into the final frame. Buffalo thought they got the equalizer, but video review determined that the puck was kicked into the net, negating the goal. The Sabres had a 19-7 shot advantage in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough as the Oilers held on for the one-goal victory.
Skinner was stellar in this one as he made 39 saves on 41 shots for a spectacular .951 save percentage (SV%). Reimer was also very good at the other end, stopping 31 of 34 shots for a .912 SV% in defeat.
The Oilers play game four of their six-game homestand on Monday night (Jan. 27) against the Seattle Kraken. Meanwhile, the Sabres return home to start a four-game homestand on Tuesday (Jan. 28) against the Boston Bruins. These two teams will conclude their two-game season series on March 10 in Buffalo.
