Skinner ends scoring skid, but Sabres fall to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -Jeff Skinner found the back of the net early to put an end to both to his own and his team's scoring droughts, but the Sabres were unable to capitalize on their chances from that point on in a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Saturday.
Skinner had gone 13 games without a goal entering the night, while the Sabres hadn't scored in their last three contests.
"I think sometimes when you're fighting it, sort of having trouble putting one in, you need to get a bounce or a lucky one," he said. "Fortunately, we got one there. I think we had some pretty good looks after that, we just couldn't seem to get that second one."

Buffalo didn't score its second goal until Zemgus Girgensons buried a shot from the slot through traffic with 1:11 remaining in the contest. Curtis McElhinney turned in a 35-save performance for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes tied the game on a first-period goal from Lucas Wallmark, then built their lead on goals from Andre Svechnikov and Justin Williams in the second. Jordan Stall delivered the dagger with a spinning backhand shot with 4:14 left in the third.
"That's just where we're at right now," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We're not finding a way. But I liked that we went to the net harder, we drove to the net. We created a lot more this game."
Despite the result, Housley felt his team's offensive output marked an improvement over their shutout loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday. McElhinney robbed a backhand attempt from Alex Nylander and stopped Evan Rodrigues on a breakaway in the second period. Conor Sheary shot wide on an open cage.
"Just off the rush, we were driving hard to the net, we got some second and third opportunities," Housley said. "It's just not falling for us right now. We've just got to continue to grind it out."
Linus Ullmark was critical of his own game following a 25-save performance. Wallmark's goal to open the scoring came after a shot by Jordan Martinook leaked between the goalie's pads, leaving the puck in the crease for Wallmark to push over the goal line. Williams' marker was off a bad-angle shot that squeezed its way in low off the post and over Ullmark's skate.
"It's just a bad goal," Ullmark said. "That's it. It's a bad goal."
Sabres captain Jack Eichel, back from a two-game suspension, defended his goaltender when speaking with the media afterward.
"Yeah, he's going to be hard on himself, he's a competitor," Eichel said. "But how many times this year has Linus stepped up and been the best player on the ice for us? You guys know the answer to that one."
The Sabres are now winless in seven straight games, as well as in their last nine contests with the Hurricanes.
"I think you have to keep working," Skinner said. "Keep working at it, keep creating chances, and over the course of a game and over the course of a season those bounces usually even out. For us, that's just the way it's going right now.
"Even after that one, I think we had some pretty good looks. Their goalie made some big saves, made some good saves. We just have to keep working. Keep working to get there, keep working to get chances and they'll start going in for us."

Skinner gets on the board

Skinner's drought occurred despite a wealth of opportunities, having earned a team-leading 38 scoring chances in his 13 games without a goal according to Natural Stat Trick.
He finally caught a break 2:40 into the contest when he gathered the puck behind the net, skated to the side of the goal and banked his shot in off McElhinney's stick. The goal was his 37th of the season, tying his career high, and his fourth in three games against his former team.

The Sabres' scoreless streak, meanwhile, ended at 199:58.
"It was important for our team, just to get that off our back," Housley said. "I really liked the way we started the game. We came out, established our forecheck, got a lot of good looks and it was a very solid first period where we could have maybe cashed in on a little bit more of our opportunities."

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the St. Louis Blues at 5 p.m. on Sunday. It will be Luck of the Irish Night at KeyBank Center, with St. Patrick's Day themed autographed pucks on sale to benefit the Sabres Foundation and commemorative warmup jerseys to be auctioned off after the game.
Click here for more information.
Can't make it downtown? Coverage on MSG-B begins at 4:30 with the GMC Game Night pregame show, or you can listen live on WGR 550.