The Buffalo Sabres could not keep pace with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, as they put up a lackluster performance in a 6-2 loss at KeyBank Center. Pat Malacaro has a complete game recap:
Eklund leads the Sharks in points (46) and assists (33) while being third in goals (13). Toffoli leads the Sharks in goals (24) and third in points (43). Celebrini is second on the Sharks in points (45) and goals (19) while being tied for second in assists (26).
Tuesday concluded a back-to-back set for both teams, as the Sharks played Monday night in Toronto. Further, it marked the fifth game in eight days for the Sabres, and Ruff detected some fatigue from his team as it yielded frequent scoring opportunities to the speedy, young San Jose lineup.
Already buried at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the Sabres slid further into the abyss in losing to their last-place counterparts from the West.
The Sabres (24-30-5) have lost four in a row and five of their last seven. The Sharks (17-37-9), who were also playing their second game in as many nights, have a two-game win streak, and they are 7-24-4 since they last won three in a row.
San Jose has won two in a row after dropping eight straight. Eklund's 46 points passed his career high of 45, which he set last season in 80 games. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Nico Sturm, Timothy Liljegren, and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Alexander Georgiev made 20 saves for his second win in as many days.
On what was deemed "Buffalo Bills Night," the Sabres did nothing to honor western New York's most popular sports franchise. Instead, they found a new rock bottom.The Sabres got blown out 6-2 at home Tuesday against the NHL's last-place San Jose Sharks to pick up their fourth straight defeat.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rookies Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini both scored in San ... JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres. Alexandar Georgiev made 20 saves for the Sharks.
The San Jose Sharks earned an unlikely and dramatic comeback victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. The Sharks erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, killed off a penalty in overtime, and saw Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund both score goals in the shootout to earn a dramatic 3-2 win over the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
Celebrini’s goal at the 12:02 mark of the third period came 63 seconds after Thompson scored to cut the Sharks lead to 3-2. Celebrini used Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram as a screen in snapping a shot from the top of the right circle inside the far left post.