Ducks slow down in second period vs. Sabres to suffer another blowout loss
Tage Thompson scored his 36th goal of the season, Casey Mittelstadt had the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Buffalo Sabres ended a four-game losing streak with a 7-3 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night at Honda Center.
Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists, and Peyton Krebs, Dylan Cozens, Tyson Jost and Mittelstadt each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which trailed 3-2 in the second period before scoring five straight goals.
Zembus Girgensons also scored, and Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn each had two assists as the Sabres had 14 of their 18 skaters record at least one point. Eric Comrie stopped 19 shots.
“I liked the energy, pace, all five guys going in tandem and unison,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “It’s our third game back from nine days or 10 days off and it’s the first time we felt like we got back into a rhythm.”
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler had the fourth two-goal game in his 13-year career, Kevin Shattenkirk had a goal and an assist, and Derek Grant had two assists. Lukas Dostal made 37 saves for the Ducks, who have dropped three straight games while being outscored 20-8.
Seven Vegas players had two points and the Golden Knights scored five times in the third period of a 7-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
It’s the second time this season and third time in franchise history the Ducks have had at least three straight games where they gave up at least six goals.
“We didn’t win any puck battles. We were a lot of poke and hope,” coach Dallas Eakins said.
Mittelstadt extended his point streak to three games with 1:57 left in the second period with a high wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that went past Dostal’s glove for his ninth of the season.
Mittelstadt and the Sabres’ third line ended up having a big night with two goals and four assists. Krebs tied it at 3-3 with a one-timer in front of the net after taking the feed from Quinn.
“It felt good to get those goals in right after they came up and had some good shifts. I feel like our line did that all night, we responded pretty well,“ Krebs said.
Thompson moved into third in the NHL in goals with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle off a pass by Dahlin. Thompson has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in his last 19 games and has a goal in three of Buffalo’s four games since the All-Star break.
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