Skinner's goal in 3rd lifts Sabres past Sharks

SAN JOSE --Jeff Skinner scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

Skinner and Alex Tuch each had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Cozens scored his 20th goal of the season for the Sabres (28-22-4), who won the final two of a three-game California road trip. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 33 saves.
"We were much, much better in the third period. We finally decided to shoot a puck, and we did not through two periods," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "We made a lot of work for ourselves because we were unwilling to shoot a puck."

Evgeny Svechnikov and Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks (17-29-11), who have lost three straight. Kaapo Kahkonen made 27 saves.
Skinner put the Sabres ahead 3-2 at 9:52 of the third. After winning a battle with Mario Ferraro behind the net, Tage Thompson poked the loose puck at the edge of the crease to Skinner, who shot into an open net.
Skinner's goal came after Kahkonen stopped Peyton Krebs on a penalty shot at 1:23 of the third.
"It really seemed like we got very demoralized after they went up 3-2. Whereas when it was 1-0 and 2-1 we kept playing," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I thought we really played well the first two periods and controlled a lot of the play. I didn't love our third. They turned it up a notch. I thought we took a step back, and just miscommunication on the [third] goal. It looked like we got easily demoralized after they went up 3-2. We didn't do much after that."
Tuch scored into an empty net at 18:59 for the 4-2 final.
"I liked the way we committed to our game plan for the last period," Thompson said. "It wasn't pretty the first two, but we got ourselves to a spot to win a game, and I think the response after the second period was good. We committed to what we needed to do out there, and that's why we had success there in the third."

Cozens gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:01 of the first period, finishing an end-to-end rush by beating Kahkonen five-hole from the bottom of the right circle.
"I was looking for some options, but I think they all kind of came off the bench [and] were flat-footed, so I just had to take it outside and just throw it on, and it found a way in," Cozens said.
Svechnikov tied it 1-1 at 16:49 when he redirected a wrist shot from Jacob MacDonald.

Owen Power put the Sabres back in front 2-1 at 6:26 of the second period with a backhand five-hole from in front.
Barabanov tied it again 2-2 at 11:57. He scored into an open net after Erik Karlsson's shot deflected wide off the stick of Logan Couture and caromed to him off the end boards.
"I thought we did a good job twice [of answering] and just ran out of time for a third one," MacDonald said. "But I think that the mindset is there to do that. If things go a different way on a couple of shots, it's a different game."