Eric Comrie set a new career high with 46 saves as the Buffalo Sabres stole a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night at Rogers Place.
“We’ve got to find a way to get a lead and hold onto it,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said after the game. “I think we’re a tough team to come back on when we’re firing on all cylinders.”
“There’s definitely no panic or anything. It’s three games in and we’ve had our chances to win all three. We haven’t got the job done in two of them, but we still have three games left on this homestand and we need to take a big step.”
Rasmus Dahlin gave the Sabres the lead on a four-on-three power play four minutes into the game, beating Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner from the high slot.
Darnell Nurse tied it 23 seconds later while playing four-on-four, converting a pass from Leon Draisaitl.
“In the second period, we made a couple of mistakes that ended up in the back of our net and we weren’t able to outscore those mistakes,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “But certainly through periods one and three, we liked what we saw.”
Tage Thompson twisted around a couple of Oilers defenders to score with a great individual effort in the first minute of the second.
Less than five minutes later, J.J. Paterka scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 Sabres.
“I thought we gifted them two goals there,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “The kid makes a heck of a play on one, and the other was just a straight gift.
“We knew they had talent and they’d hurt us if we did stuff like that.”
The Oilers had numerous close calls in the first 10 minutes of the third but Comrie held strong.
After the Oilers killed a penalty, McDavid had a shot from point blank with just under five minutes left. Comrie made the save, then McDavid pushed the rebound just wide.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Nurse said after the game. “(Skinner) made some huge saves for us in big moments and we weren’t able to help him out.
“We hung him out to dry a couple of times.”
With 1:33 to go and Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, Nugent-Hopkins found the puck in a scramble and flipped in his first of the season.
Zach Hyman appeared to have a sure goal with 30 seconds left but Comrie came up with a great pad save. Sabres forward Alex Tuch scored a late empty-netter.
The Oilers outshot the Sabres 23-5 in the third and 48-24 for the game.
Oilers forward Dylan Holloway left the game in the first period after receiving a huge open-ice check from Ilya Lybushkin. Woodcroft was unable to provide an update after the game.
The Oilers (1-2) will host Carolina on Thursday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 5:30 p.m. The actual game is at 7 p.m.
–With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED
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