Sabres 4, Devils 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jason Pominville and Tyler Ennis scored in the shootout to give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at First Niagara Center.
Pominville, Buffalo's first shooter, beat Devils goalie Johan Hedberg with a wrist shot to Hedberg's left. Ennis, Buffalo's second shooter, beat Hedberg with a wrist shot to the goalie's right.
Pominville also had two goals in regulation and Jochen Hecht scored his first of the season for Buffalo. Ryan Miller had 28 saves for the Sabres, who improved to 9-12-1.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique came up short in the shootout for New Jersey, which fell to 10-7-4. Henrique, Andrei Loktionov and Steve Bernier scored for New Jersey. Hedberg had 20 saves for the Devils.
The shootout came after the teams traded goals on three occasions in regulation.
The Sabres took their second lead of the game midway through the third period on Jochen Hecht's first goal of the season, but the Devils quickly responded with 8:44 remaining on Andrei Loktionov's third goal of the year to tie the game at 3-3. Loktionov beat Miller after some pretty passing in the Buffalo end from Henrique and Stefan Matteau.
Henrique scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead 1:21 into the third, but Pominville answered for the Sabres just under two minutes later. Pominville, who was beaten by Henrique on the New Jersey goal, tied the game following a cross-ice pass from Cody Hodgson.
The Devils dominated the flow of play through the first two periods, outshooting the Sabres 26-14.
Pominville got the Sabres on the board first with a shorthanded goal 7:17 into the second period. Pominville scored from the right circle after some nice forechecking from Hodgson.
The Devils quickly struck back 9:24 into the second when Mark Fayne's shot from the point deflected off Steve Bernier into the Buffalo net.
NOTES: Devils goalie Martin Brodeur missed the game with a sore back. He is eligible to return from the injured list Monday. ... Thomas Vanek, Buffalo's leading scorer, missed the game with an upper-body injury. He is not expected to miss an extended period of time. John Scott and T.J. Brennan also were scratched by the Sabres. ... Buffalo forward Brian Flynn played in his first NHL game; he was called up from the Rochester Americans with Vanek out. Flynn has 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in the AHL this season. ... Peter Harrold, Krystofer Barch and Anton Volchenkov were scratched by the Devils. ... This was the first of three games between the teams this season. Heading into Saturday's game, the Devils led the all-time series 48-40-17.
