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EDMONTON, AB – Goaltender Stuart Skinner stood his ground by making 39 saves, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recorded two goals – including the winner with 8:59 left in the third period – for his second straight multi-point performance on Saturday afternoon in a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Rogers Place.

After Alex Tuch opened the scoring for the Sabres with 3:32 left in the first period, winger Jeff Skinner notched his eighth tally of the campaign just 17 seconds later for Edmonton before Nugent-Hopkins erased another one-goal deficit during the middle frame with the finish off a terrific deke from Kasperi Kapanen.

Nugent-Hopkins buried his 15th goal of the season in the final frame after being set up in the right circle by defenceman Darnell Nurse, lifting the Oilers to a 3-2 lead that would stand thanks to Stuart Skinner's stellar afternoon between the pipes for the Oilers to pick up his 19th victory of the campaign.

"I think we've just learnt a bit quicker this year," Skinner said. "It probably felt a lot worse than what it actually was, but the way that we've been playing, it says a lot about the group and how mature we are and how much mental resiliency we have."

The Oilers passed the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division with the two points, going 2-1-0 over three games without captain Connor McDavid in the lineup due to suspension, including back-to-back wins over the Sabres and Canucks.

"It's obviously our goal to keep racking up points and get as high as we possibly can, so it's nice to see that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But a long way to go, and the job's not finished here."

The Oilers will continue their season-high six-game road trip on Monday against the Seattle Kraken.

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      Nugent-Hopkins & Skinner star for the Oilers in a 3-2 win over Buffalo

      FIRST PERIOD

      Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday that it's only a matter of time for winger Jeff Skinner, who made good on his coach's words against his former team on Saturday afternoon by providing the Oilers with a quick response after falling behind on Alex Tuch's first-period marker.

      Tuch nearly helped orchestrate Buffalo's opening goal in the game's opening moments when he worked a one-two off the rush with Sabres leading scorer Tage Thompson, who got it around the sliding Stuart Skinner but couldn't tuck in his effort past the Oilers netminder in an early escape for the Blue & Orange.

      Buffalo didn't register an official shot on goal until 8:58 of the frame and was getting outshot 8-0 by Edmonton before they received their first power play when Troy Stecher interfered with Thompson in the defensive zone. Over the final 51:02, Stuart Skinner would face 41 total shots.

      "I thought it was going to be a low-shot game again," he said. "I thought the way that we started was fantastic. We came out flying. I thought I had a shot, then they took it away about 10 minutes later, so I was feeling a little cold. But obviously, as the game went on, we got a few penalties. That put them on the power play and gave me a couple of shots, so I kind of got back into it."

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          Stuart talks about his 40 saves in the Oilers 3-2 win over Buffalo

          The Sabres would be the ones to break the deadlock, breaking up a stretch pass in the neutral zone from Evan Bouchard before they turned it back on the Oilers, working it over to Tuch in the right circle for a shot that trickled through under Stuart Skinner's right arm.

          The Oilers were charged with seven giveaways in the opening frame and one of those would end up in the back of their net, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead with 3:32 left in the period.

          Head Coach Kris Knoblauch liked how his side started, but believes they got a bit too complacent following Stecher's penalty.

          "I think we just thought we were going to cruise through the game," he said. "I thought we were ready to play. I thought we did a lot at the start of the game, and then, we just kind of let them take over the game."

          "I think just overall, our five-man pressure was not nearly aggressive enough, and what happens is you just defend and the other team ends up getting some scoring chances."

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              Skinner scores against his former team to tie the game at 1-1

              Edmonton's other Skinner in No. 53 played 427 games for the Sabres over six seasons before signing with the Oilers on July 1, and the winger would respond almost immediately for his new team against his former club during a strong response shift from Edmonton's fourth line.

              Jeff Skinner scored for the first time in five games when he quickly buried a rebound from between the hashmarks off defenceman Ty Emberson's point shot, tying the game just 17 seconds after the Oilers fell behind to Tuch's opener.

              Skinner's eighth goal of the season was his first against Buffalo since Dec. 23, 2017 as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, for whom he registered 16 points with over 24 career games against the Sabres.

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                  Zach talks to the media following the 3-2 win over the Sabres

                  SECOND PERIOD

                  With the game tied, the Oilers recognized they had more to give in order to put away the Eastern Conference bottom-dwelling Sabres, who were full value for their performance through 40 minutes on Saturday.

                  "I think obviously we had another level we could get to, and it starts with work," Zach Hyman said. "We didn't work as well as we usually do, and for whatever reason, that happens over the course of a long season. But good teams are able to find a way to win."

                  Stuart Skinner was busy facing 17 shots during the middle stanza, including seven saves on Buffalo's second power play after Hyman was given two minutes for hooking defenceman Mattias Samuelsson before the six-minute mark of the period.

                  The Oilers escaped the penalty kill, but centre Jiri Kulich found an opening near the top of the right circle to accept defenceman Owen Power's pass that the Sabres first-round pick from 2022 one-timed past a sliding Skinner with 7:46 gone in the middle frame to restore the lead at 2-1 for the visitors.

                  Buffalo was keen on exploiting the stretch pass against Edmonton, turning the tactic into two break-away chances for Tuch and Thompson in the second period that required Skinner to come up with a pair of clutch saves to keep it a one-goal game.

                  "That's the way that Buffalo plays," Stuart Skinner said. "Whenever there's a turnover in their end or anywhere, they're just looking for guys skating up the ice. They definitely found a couple of guys, and they're an incredibly good team. They don't get as much respect as they probably should."

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                      Nugent-Hopkins finishes off Kapanen's deke & back-door chance

                      Kasperi Kapanen and the Oilers capitalized on their netminder's strong period to tie the game before the intermission, with the Finnish winger creating a back-door chance that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finished off in front following his terrific spin-around move off the rush.

                      "We had a guy kicking back there, so we leaned on him heavy tonight. Probably a little too heavy," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We knew that coming in, if you give these guys any life, they're gonna run with it. They're a bunch of young skill players and can make you pay, so Stu did a great job."

                      Kapanen tried to put it in on the wrap-around, but Nugent-Hopkins crashed the crease and put it beyond Buffalo goaltender James Reimer for his 14th goal of the season, evening things up at 2-2 with 6:40 left in the middle frame.

                      "To be able to spin like that with that much speed is pretty impressive, and then obviously make a play to the net," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I just kind of had to clean it up."

                      "I like his tenacity," Knoblauch said of Kapanen. "He's a big, strong guy but an incredible skater. He gets around the ice very well and finishes his checks, and I think when we picked him up off waivers, that was the kind of player that we were looking for. We wanted a little more speed to our lineup and a little more physicality, and he provides that, but he also plays our style of hockey."

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                          Ryan speaks after his two-goal performance in the 3-2 victory

                          THIRD PERIOD

                          There's nothing Nuuuuuuuge about it.

                          With Connor McDavid serving the third of his three-game suspension, the Nuge continued to be huge without his team's captain in the lineup by putting in another multi-point performance on Saturday, scoring the game-winning goal 8:59 into the final frame off a terrific feed from defenceman Darnell Nurse.

                          Nurse dropped down the right side with the puck as Nugent-Hopkins lost himself in coverage behind two Sabres, opening himself up in the left circle to accept the dish from 'Doc' and lift his 15th goal of the campaign over the outstretched Reimer for the 3-2 advantage with over half a period to play.

                          "Bouchy made a nice play up top, and then Nursey just found that seam," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It was a perfect seam, and I kind of just had to put in the open net."

                          After recording a goal and an assist in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Canucks, Nuge was back at it with two goals on Saturday and now has eight goals and four assists in his last 15 games, while Nurse's sublime helper was his fourth assist in his last seven outings.

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                              Nugent-Hopkins' second goal lifts the Oilers into a late 3-2 lead

                              Stuart Skinner's stellar 40-save performance wasn't about to be spoiled by a Buffalo equalizer from Jiri Kulich that was challenged by the Oilers and overturned by the officials, denying the Czech centre his second goal of the afternoon after he was deemed to have kicked the puck in from the crease.

                              "I just saw the skate move and I was just telling Gene [Principe] in the other interview that I didn't know if it was Bouch's skate or not," Skinner said. "So after Bouch was yelling at the ref, I was asking him if he kicked it in or not, so I'm happy that he said no. It was kind of a funny little weird play."

                              With the Sabres net empty in the final minute, Leon Draisaitl whiffed on an open look from inside the blue line that would've put the game away, putting his shot off the side of the cage and sending the visitors back up ice for a last-ditch flurry to try and even things up at the death.

                              An attempt from defenceman Rasmus Dahlin at six-on-five with seven seconds left was parried away by Stuart Skinner before the puck wrapped around the boards and out of Edmonton's zone, securing the Oilers the 3-2 victory and thwarting what was a formidable performance from the Sabres.

                              "Multiple big saves from the slot and at the end of the game," Knoblauch said of his goaltender. "When it was 2-1 for them, a couple of breakaways that he stopped. I can go through many multiple big saves that he made."

                              The Oilers improved to 27-12-1 all-time (excluding three ties) at home against the Sabres with their 31st win of the season, which lifted them over the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division by one point with a 31-15-3 record (65 points).

                              "We've got to keep playing well, obviously," Nugent-Hopkins said. There are some good teams going to be trying to climb the standings for sure, so things will start to tighten up the last half of the season."