At The Final Horn: Devils 5 - Sabres 3

Rasmus Ristolainen was a factor in all three goals for the Buffalo Sabres, but it was the New Jersey Devils who pulled away with a 5-3 victory Sunday afternoon at KeyBank Center.
Ristolainen scored as a net-front presence on the power play, took the shot that was deflected in by Curtis Lazar on Buffalo's first goal and set up the screen that led to Rasmus Dahlin's first of the season.
Buffalo never led in the game. Miles Wood scored twice and picked up an assist for New Jersey. Michael McLeod also scored twice for the Devils, including the opening goal 20 seconds into the content and what proved to be the game-winner midway through the third. Andreas Johnsson was also credited with a goal.
Carter Hutton stopped 32 shots for the Sabres while Devils netminder Eric Comrie made 29 saves in his first start of the season.

What happened

The Devils scored in the first 20 seconds and final 20 seconds of the first period to get off to a 2-0 start.
Twenty seconds into the game. P.K. Subban hit McLeod with a long stretch pass, sending him on a breakaway against Hutton. McLeod split the D, deked out Hutton and put New Jersey up 1-0.
Then with 16.1 seconds remaining, a rebound deflected up in front of the net, and amid a cluster of bodies in the crease, the puck found its way into the back of the net. Johnsson was credited with the goal.
The Sabres opened the second on the power play and generated four shots on goal. The best scoring chance occurred when Taylor Hall found Dahlin, but Comrie came across from his left to his right and stopped the one-timer with his mask.

Buffalo battled back in the later stages of the period with a pair of goals to tie the game.
With 5:49 remaining in the second, Lazar redirected a point shot from Ristolainen in to put Buffalo on the board.
And with 4:38 left, Ristolainen was at the other end of the offensive zone, screening Comrie when Dahlin's shot from the point went in.
Wood beat the buzzer to put the Devils ahead going into the second intermission. He raced in from the neutral zone on a loose puck and wristed a hard shot top shelf with 0.9 seconds remaining to give the Devils a 3-2 lead.
The Sabres tied things up 3:53 into the third on the power play. After Victor Olofsson partially fanned on his shot in the right faceoff circle, Ristolainen, again as the net-front presence took the puck and was able to chip it in for his second goal of the season.
McLeod put the Devils ahead when he one-timed a behind-the-net pass from Wood in with 9:20 remaining in regulation.
The Sabres' final 6-on-5 push in the final minutes was stymied by the Devils' defense. Wood added an empty-net goal with 7.4 seconds left.

Roll the highlight film

Here's Ristolainen tying things up in the third:

Worth a mention

With an assist on Dahlin's goal, Olofsson collected a point for the sixth straight game and matched the longest point streak of his career. He's achieved this feat twice before (from December 10-21, 2019 and November 19-29, 2019, according to NHL Stats and Information.
Olofsson and captain Jack Eichel both ended the game with two assists each. Olofsson's second power-play assist of the day gave him eight power-play points on the season (3+5). He is now tied with Joe Pavelski for the league lead.
Sunday's game marked Hutton's first start since January 19, a game in which he left after 40 minutes due to injury.
Casey Mittelstadt was back in the lineup after being recalled from the taxi squad before the game. Sam Reinhart missed his second-straight game with an upper-body injury. Tage Thompson and Henri Jokiharju served as healthy scratches.
The Devils' Kyle Palmieri did not play due to a COVID-related absence. He skated 18:23 in Saturday's game. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and forward Travis Zajac are also on the Devils' COVID-protocol list.

Coming up

The Sabres' next four games will be on the road, starting Tuesday night against the New York Islanders. That game can be seen on NBCSN at 6 p.m.
First, Buffalo will practice on Monday at KeyBank Center. We'll have updates here on Sabres.com, our social media platforms and the Sabres app.