Stuart Skinner made 37 saves and Connor McDavid hit another milestone as the Edmonton Oilers scored a 3-2 win Monday night in Buffalo.
“Obviously it’s a huge two points. Every win really matters now,” said Skinner.
It was an action-packed first period with the Oilers outshooting the Sabres 20-15. McDavid opened the scoring, his 53rd of the season, banking a wraparound past Craig Anderson. Less than three minutes later, Jeff Skinner rattled a one-timer on a power play past Stuart Skinner to make it 1-1.
The Sabres outplayed the Oilers in the second, firing 13 shots at Skinner, who turned them all aside. The Oilers went ahead with 1:15 left in the session when Derek Ryan potted his eleventh off a pass from Devin Shore.
Dylan Cozens spun and scored in the first minute of the second to pull the Sabres square again. It didn’t take long for McDavid to answer back, firing a shot through Anderson’s five-hole less than three minutes later. That gave McDavid a new career-high of 124 points.
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Skinner made several sharp saves down the stretch to preserve the victory.
“I think being able to get a couple saves right off the bat made me feel better going into the game,” said Skinner. “We were able to just play really well and get our chances — big credit to the guys in front of me.”
“You gotta give credit to the other team too. (Buffalo) has a lot of skill there. They’re going to get their looks, and you want to make sure your goaltender is there for you”, said head coach Jay Woodcroft.
The Oilers, 35-22-8, will visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 4 p.m., game at 5:30 p.m.).
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