Kulich scores in OT to lift Sabres past Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Jiri Kulich scored with 1:00 left in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

Buffalo forward Alex Tuch forced a turnover in the Anaheim zone, leading to a 2-on-1 break. Ducks goalie John Gibson made a save on Owen Power, but Tuch freed up the rebound and Kulich scored into the open side of the net.

"Tuchy' did a really good job at the blue line and we had two guys on the net and then he won another battle," Kulich said. "I just had an empty net, so great job by Tuchy."

Peyton Krebs and Jason Zucker also scored, Power had three assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves for the Sabres (10-9-1), who have won three of four to climb over .500.

"It’s huge," Power said. "There’s been a couple times we’ve had the chance to do it and haven’t been able to do it, so hopefully now that we’re over it we’re able to continue to get these wins."

Drew Helleson and Isac Lundestrom scored and Gibson made 30 saves for the Ducks (8-8-3), who had won three in a row.

"The first period we were a little bit slow," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "We didn't have the same snap we had the last few games and I thought the second and third period we played the way we wanted to play."

The Ducks scored on their first shot to take a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period.

Trevor Zegras centered a pass to the trailing Helleson and he scored with a wrist shot from the high slot for his second NHL goal in his seventh game.

Luukkonen was screened by Anaheim forward Alex Killorn and Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju and didn't appear to see the puck.

"He's been impressive," Cronin said of Helleson. "He's got a lot of poise and composure with the puck. He's a right shot. He's got a big, long body and a long reach."

Buffalo outshot Anaheim 12-6 in the opening period.

The Ducks stretched the lead to 2-0 at 14:07 of the second period when Lundestrom deflected a shot over the head of Luukkonen and across the goal line six seconds after an Anaheim power play ended.

"'Lundy' is probably one of the most reliable players. He really thinks like a coach on the ice," Cronin said. "We're all hoping we'll get a little more offense out of him because he does get some quality ice time, but I think that'll come. Tonight's goal was kind of a blue collar goal, he got in front of the net, but when he's on a line, he stabilizes whatever line he's on."

Ducks forward Frank Vatrano could not capitalize on two prime scoring chances that would have extended the lead to 3-0 late in the second period.

Vatrano has scored just two goals in 18 games after scoring an NHL career-high 37 last season.

"Last year was a breakthrough year, so the expectation that he's going to be a 30-plus goal scorer has been set," Cronin said. "I'm not worried about him scoring goals. ... I do believe that his shooting percentage will go up. It's really low right now, but the worst thing he could do is stop shooting the puck."

The Sabres scored twice in the final 1:23 of the second period to tie the score heading to the third.

Krebs pushed the puck across the goal line after it got behind Gibson following a save on Tuch's deflection to make it 2-1 at 18:37.

Zucker then got loose on a breakaway and scored for the second consecutive game to tie it 2-2 at 19:27.

"We ended up screening our goaltender on their first goal, but we came back hard in the second," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think you got to find ways to win those games, they’re hard to win but you got to give the group a lot of credit, we gained a lot of momentum there at the end of the second."

NOTES: The Sabres did not score a power play goal for the first time in eight games. ... Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had his seven-game point streak end (four goals, six assists). ... Sabres forward Dylan Cozens played in his 300th NHL game. ... Gibson was trying to start 4-0-0 for the first time in his NHL career. ... Anaheim defenseman Olen Zellweger assisted on Lundestrom's goal to give him five points in the past four games (two goals, three assists). ... Zegras assisted on Helleson's goal to give him four points in the past four games.