Silfverberg scores twice, Ducks hold off Sabres

ANAHEIM – Jakob Silfverberg scored twice for the Anaheim Ducks in a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Honda Center on Tuesday.

"It hasn't been raining in goals as of this year, so it was nice to get two," said Silfverberg, who doubled his goal total on the season. "Obviously, big goals for the team, too, so hopefully me and the team can keep rolling on this."

Olen Zellweger had an assist in his NHL debut, Cam Fowler had two assists, and John Gibson made 28 saves for Anaheim (16-30-1), which had lost three straight and was 1-8-1 in its previous 10 home games.

"He's a modern player," Silfverberg said of Zellweger. "He's very agile, he's very quick, he's very quick with the puck too. Great hands, good vision."

Jordan Greenway had a goal and an assist, Kyle Okposo scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves for Buffalo (20-23-4), which has lost two in a row following back-to-back shutout wins.

"We have to do a better job of realizing where we're at and what we need," said Okposo, the Sabres captain. "We obviously didn't feel good, but when you don't feel good you have to do the little things correctly so you're in the right positions, and we just, we wanted it easy. When you want it easy and the other team starts to feel good, it's going to be a long night."

Silfverberg gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 5:51 of the first period, redirecting Radko Gudas’ one-timer from the point past Luukkonen.

Anaheim made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 3:37 of the second period. Sam Carrick batted in the puck at the top of the crease off a rebound from Zellweger’s wrist shot from just inside the blue line.

"I think that's one of my better skills, finding that lane, especially from the blue line," Zellweger said. "It's something that I've worked on. I kind of feel a calmness looking for that lane, so it was good that one got through on net."

Zellweger, the Western Hockey League Defenseman of the Year last season with Kamloops, was recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League earlier Tuesday.

"He's got a sneaky quick shot," Silfverberg said of Zellweger. "It looks like a nothing wrist shot, but it's got some heat on it and the goalie can't control it. And before you know it, you tap the rebound in. He's going to be a good player. It was nice to see him get a point tonight."

Silfverberg put in a cross-crease pass from Mason McTavish at the right post on a 2-on-1 rush to push it to 3-0 at 4:30.

Sabres coach Don Granato said it was the turning point of the game.

"You've got to regather yourself, and we didn't until the start of the third period," Granato said. "Obviously, there were things said in between the periods, but we had a lull that shouldn't have happened after that second goal."

Greenway’s power-play goal made it 3-1 at 14:41 of the third period. He redirected a shot from Rasmus Dahlin in front on a 6-on-4 man-advantage with Luukkonen on the bench for an extra attacker.

Okposo scored from the slot with Luukkonen pulled again to cut it to 3-2 at 17:04, but Adam Henrique scored an empty-net goal with 1:09 left for the 4-2 final.

"The compete wasn't there," Granato said. "You look at the two goals that we did score in the third period, Okposo and Greenway, we had net front in both. ... We get to the net and we get rewarded. We don't get rewarded when we don't get to the net."

NOTES: Sabres defenseman Ryan Johnson and forward Tage Thompson are the sons of Ducks assistant coaches Craig Johnson and Brent Thompson, who coached against their sons in the NHL for the first time. ... Buffalo is 2-17-2 when trailing after the first period this season. ... Sabres forward Jeff Skinner returned after missing five games with an upper-body injury; he had a team-high four shots on goal in 18:17 of ice time. ... Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had an assist on Greenway's goal to give him nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Henrique has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past nine games. ... Ducks forward Troy Terry had an assist on Carrick's goal to give him 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.