GAME RECAP: Sabres 3, Oilers 2

BUFFALO, NY - The Edmonton Oilers fell just short versus the Buffalo Sabres Friday at KeyBank Center, dropping a 3-2 decision in the team's second game in as many nights.
Leon Draisaitl scored twice to bring his League-leading goal total to 14, Connor McDavid kept his scoring streak alive at 13 games with an assist - putting him two points shy of 600 in his career - and netminder Stuart Skinner registered 20 saves as Edmonton's record shifts to 10-3-0 on the season and 1-2-0 on the five-game road swing.

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FIRST BLOOD

At first, it appeared as though Darnell Nurse had struck to open the scoring with a sharp-angle shot that ramped up Buffalo goaltender Dustin Tokarski's shoulder and skittered off the crossbar. Then, it looked like it was Arttu Ruotsalainen's re-direction. As it turned out, Nurse's short-side shot never crossed the goal-line and Ruotsalainen's tip was deemed too high.
In the end, Anders Bjork's breakaway goal at 2:16 of the middle period got the offence rolling. The 146th-overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft took advantage of a fortunate bounce at the Sabres' blueline, going off to the races for a partial break and lifting the puck blocker side for his third tuck of the season.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT

McDavid over to Draisaitl, you know the rest.
The Dynamic Duo linked up like they usually do to produce another highly-skilled score. While on the man advantage, McDavid moved towards the Buffalo goal-line before saucing a no-look backhand pass cross-ice to Draisaitl for a perfectly-placed forehand one-timer.
The goal was the German's second power-play strike of the night to give him two more than Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who scored the 742nd goal of his career to pass Brett Hull for fourth in the NHL all-time.

SAVES OF THE GAME

Skinner's first-period pad stop on Bjork's high-slot deflection was his best of the evening as the 23-year-old net-protector fought through a traffic jam in front to keep the game scoreless in the first. Immediately after, Ruotsalainen's deft deflection leaked under Skinner's pads but the goal was taken back upon video review.

On the other side, Sabres guardian Tokarski robbed McDavid, Puljujärvi and Draisaitl from knotting the game up late in what was a thrilling few sequences with under 10 minutes to play in regulation.
The puck-stopper stayed composed when No. 97 went backhand on an in-tight 1-on-1 opportunity and managed to get back into position for Puljujärvi's one-time blast from the left circle on the same shift. Just moments later, he prevented Draisaitl from getting the hat trick with a lunging denial.

TURNING POINT

Buffalo Sabres forward Dylan Cozen's two second-period goals were the turning point of the evening, tallying the game-tying marker and the go-ahead strike. No more offence was needed on the night as the Sabres survived the Oilers offensive onslaught late with the help of goalie Tokarski.

TOP PERFORMER

Draisaitl's second two-goal performance in a row awards him the Top Performer distinction as the Alternate Captain has seven in his last five outings and is pacing the NHL with a 1.08 goals per game average. He holds the top spot as the NHL's leader in goals and points with 14 and 28, respectively.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Dave Tippett's evaluation of the loss:
"We allowed them to score easy goals, so we chased the game the whole game. We had some effort there but we just didn't play very smart. We gave up four or five breakaways, that's not a recipe for success.
"We got lots of energy. It's disappointing that we played the way we did to allow them the opportunities that they got. We gave them four breakaways and they scored on three of them."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on falling behind in games:
"It's not a position we want to put ourselves in night after night. Last night, we battled back in an emotional game. We found a way to come from behind but it's not always that easy. We definitely pushed in the third tonight but overall, we need to be better in the early part of the game. It cost us tonight."
Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers having a target on their back with the early-season success:
"It's not going to be easy. Where we put ourselves is a good position but we know teams are going to see our record and want to come out flying and play us hard. That Buffalo team plays a hard-nosed game, they skate, they make you work for everything. I thought in the third, we were probably at our best just keeping things simple, putting pucks on the net and having guys go there. Overall, we can improve on that."