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.
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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.
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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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