BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sam Reinhart tied the game and then set up Jack Eichel’s go-ahead goal 4:07 into the third period Saturday, rallying the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Jets from playoff contention in a matchup of teams out of the post-season picture.
Buffalo won consecutive games for the first time since taking two straight on Feb. 12-14. The Sabres improved to 3-0-1 in their past four games, their longest point streak since they won six straight from Nov. 28-Dec. 15, 2014.
The rebuilding Sabres drew on their youth movement, which produced all three goals. Newly signed forward Hudson Fasching rounded out the scoring.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp scored for the Jets, who squandered a chance to win three straight for the first time this season.
The Sabres overcame their second consecutive 2-1 deficit following a 3-2 win at Carolina on Tuesday in which Buffalo scored twice in the final four minutes.
On Saturday, Reinhart tied the game 1:23 into the third period following a faceoff to the left of the Winnipeg net. Zemgus Girgensons won the draw and his shot hit the right goal post. The puck bounced into the slot, where Reinhart slipped a shot under goalie Michael Hutchinson’s left arm.
Reinhart then set up Eichel with a no-look backhand pass from the sideboards in the neutral zone. Getting the puck in stride, Eichel caught defenceman Mark Stuart flat-footed in crossing the blue line, and snapped a 30-footer just inside the far left post.
The Jets opened the scoring with two goals in 42 seconds.
Ehlers scored first 4:27 in, by driving up the right wing and beating goalie Chad Johnson on the short side.
Copp was credited with Winnipeg’s second goal, which came during a scramble in front. Copp began the play by driving to the net from the right wing. Johnson made the initial stop but then lost sight of the puck as it lay in the crease. Buffalo defenceman Mark Pysyk kicked the puck out, only to have it carom back in off a skate in front.
The Sabres struck back three minutes later when rookie Hudson Fasching scored short-handed in his NHL debut. Bursting up the left wing, Fasching got around defenceman Jacob Trouba and drove to front of the net, where he backhanded a shot inside the right post.
The Sabres had just signed Fasching to an entry-level contract Monday after he completed his junior season at Minnesota.
Jets defenceman Tyler Myers said he was happy to make the trip back to Buffalo, but wished he was able to play after season-ending surgery on his right knee this past week. The Jets acquired Myers as part of a trade that sent forward Evander Kane and defenceman Zach Bogosian to the Sabres in February 2015.
Myers expects to be ready for the start of training camp, though he faces a long rehabilitation. Next week, he’s to have hip surgery.
NOTES: With an assist on Ehlers’ goal, Jets C Mark Scheifele earned his 50th point (24 goals, 26 assists) to set a single-season career high. … Fasching became Buffalo’s second player this season to score in his NHL debut after Eichel did it in a season-opening 3-1 loss to Ottawa. … Newly signed Sabres D Casey Nelson also picked up his first career point in his debut with an assist on Fasching’s goal. … On Friday, the Sabres signed their 2014 second-round draft pick, forward Eric Cornel, to a three-year entry-level contract. Cornel had 70 goals and 143 assists in 265 career games with Peterborough of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
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