Sabres rally after Antipin's injury to earn win in Nashville

NASHVILLE - For a long stretch of the second period on Saturday night, a building with the reputation of being one of the NHL's loudest stood silent. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Victor Antipin laid face down on the ice near the end boards, where he was tended to by trainers until being carted off on a stretcher.
Antipin was injured on a hit from behind by Nashville Predators forward Scott Hartnell, who received a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Sabres coach Phil Housley said after the game that the defenseman was hospitalized but doing well.
With their teammate down, the Sabres responded with three goals on the ensuing power play - two from Sam Reinhart and one from Kyle Okposo - turning a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead in an eventual 7-4 win over the league's best team at Bridgestone Arena.

"I didn't see [the hit], but there's a reason why you could hear a pin drop for about 10 minutes straight in there," Reinhart said. "Right now, we're just hoping he's OK, hoping the best for him. We're trading all those goals back if he's alright.
"Hopefully he can recover soon because he's a good guy in here and he does a lot for the team, so wishing the best."

Reinhart scored three goals for his second-career hat trick, while Okposo scored twice. Ryan O'Reilly and Jason Pominville also scored goals for Buffalo.
Jack Eichel tallied a career-high five assists, joining Gilbert Perreault, Pat Lafontaine and Dale Hawerchuk as the only Sabres to accomplish the feat. LaFontaine and Perreault did it three times apiece. LaFontaine was the last to reach the mark, on Feb. 10, 1993.

The win was particularly special for Housley, who was behind the bench in Nashville for the first time as a visiting coach. Housley began his NHL coaching career with the Predators, where he served as an assistant for the past four seasons.
"It was definitely an emotional game to him," Eichel said. "He expressed that to us after the game, what it meant to get a win here. It's rewarding. It's one of the best teams in the league, on the road.
"The way they've been playing here and the way they use the crowd on the road to their advantage, I thought we did a really good job of handling their pushes and making a few of our own."
The Sabres faced adversity at several points in the game, Antipin's injury being one of them. After Pominville opened the scoring 43 seconds into the game, they gave up three-straight goals and trailed 3-1 in the second period.
O'Reilly and Okposo scored to tie it again, only for Nick Bonino to reclaim the lead for Nashville. After the Sabres took the lead during the five-minute power play, they were tasked with killing a 5-on-3 for 1:24 early in the third. They responded by drawing a penalty of their own 26 seconds in.

"I mean, to win in this building, it's hard," Housley said. "I know that the fan base, they get behind and provide energy for the team. But our guys stuck with it. They just stayed the course and I think even when it was 3-1 here, they really dug in.
"It was a great response from our team and, to say the least, I'm very happy right now."
It was not lost on the Sabres that they scored seven goals against Pekka Rinne, the All-Star goaltender and likely candidate for the Vezina Trophy who had shut them out in Buffalo on March 19. Reinhart said the Sabres made it a point to crash the net and aim away from Rinne's glove.
Special teams ended up making the difference in the game, as Buffalo went 4-for-6 on the power play. It was the team's first four-goal night with the man advantage since Nov. 8, 2011.
"It was good to see some of those go in on the power play for us," Eichel said. "I thought we kind of just kept it simple. We tried to move it, took what they gave us and I thought we were all working on the same page tonight."
After the game, the players' thoughts remained with Antipin. Okposo said he was shaken up by the image of his teammate on a stretcher, but proud of the way the team rallied around him.
"You're just concerned about your teammate," he said. "Having to go on the power play after that, I had to really wrap my head around playing after that. You never want to see that, but I thought we had a good response."

Milestones for Jack and Sam

With his five-assist night, Eichel set career-highs in points (62) and assists (37) in a season. He also scored his career-high 25th goal on Thursday.
Reinhart has tied his career-highs with 23 goals and 47 points.

Up next

The Sabres will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday for their fourth and final meeting of the season. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m., or you can listen live on WGR 550. Puck drop is slated for 7.
The team returns to Buffalo for its final home game of the season against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. It will be Fan Appreciation Night at KeyBank Center, with fans in attendance receiving a commemorative Dominik Hasek bobblehead. More giveaways will follow throughout the night.

Get your tickets for Wednesday here.