Rasmus Asplund and Dylan Cozens scored for Buffalo in a span of 1:34 in the third period. Asplund batted the puck of the air to make it 2-0 at 5:16, and Cozens scored on a backhand off Taylor Hall's pass from behind the net for a 3-0 lead at 6:50.
"Obviously, [Ullmark] had a good game, but I think we made his night easy," Hischier said. "If you look at the game, he saw too many shots, and that's when you give the goalie some confidence. The next game, we've got to make sure that we get in front of the net and take his eyes away."
Gusev scored on a snap shot from the left face-off circle to cut it to 3-1. Cody Eakin scored into an empty net with one second left for the 4-1 final.
"We're just happy the team responded to that kind of pressure we put on them today, and [Ullmark] led the way," Krueger said. "He looked like a real leader today and a top-rate NHL goalie in a game that really mattered to us."
NOTES: The Sabres learned before the game defenseman Will Borgen will be out 6-8 weeks after having surgery to repair a fracture in his right forearm Tuesday. They were also without defensemen Jake McCabe, who will miss the rest of the season because of injuries to his right knee, and Rasmus Ristolainen, who was removed from the COVID-19 protocol list Feb. 16 and is working his way back into shape after testing positive Feb. 2. ... Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson was plus-2 and played 17:59 in his NHL debut. ... Buffalo forward Jeff Skinner, who has no goals in 14 games this season, was a healthy scratch for a second straight game.