Quinn strikes twice as Sabres shut out Senators

Thursday was a happy homecoming for Sabres forward Jack Quinn, whose pair of early goals led Buffalo to a 4-0 shutout of the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

Quinn, an Ottawa native, had plenty of guests in attendance to watch him give the Sabres a 2-0 lead in the first period.

“Pretty cool night to get those,” Quinn said.

First, 10:17 into the game, he and Ryan McLeod raced past the Ottawa defense for a partial 2-on-0 rush. The speedy McLeod could’ve held onto the puck for a shot, but he instead passed to the open Quinn, who ripped a shot past Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg.

“Quinner’s a sniper,” McLeod said. “Get him the puck when you can.”

Three minutes later, Quinn escaped the penalty box after his second hooking penalty of the period. Peyton Krebs collected a blocked shot in the defensive zone and dished a stretch pass to the streaking Quinn – another tally for the hot-of-late sniper.

Through 24 games this season, the 23-year-old had scored just one empty-net goal. Beginning with a two-goal effort Dec. 15 in Toronto, however, Quinn has recorded six goals and five assists in his last 10 games.

“I think my game is to be an offensive producer and score,” Quinn said. “Some tough times at the start of the year, things were feeling a lot harder for me than years before, for some reason, but it’s nice to see some of the work pay off.”

“(With) all the ups and downs he’s gone through already in his career, I feel like every bit of success is earned for him,” said Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season. “When he scores, everybody likes it, everybody gets energy from it, so it was good to see.”

Dylan Cozens extended the lead to 3-0 early in the second period with his ninth goal of the season, punishing defenseman Nick Jensen for a defensive-zone turnover.

After stoning Ottawa on some early scoring chances, Luukkonen sat back and watched Buffalo defend its lead – the Sabres have often struggled to maintain third-period leads this season, but not Thursday.

“We didn’t go out there just to try to survive – we kept going where we left off in the second period” Luukkonen said. “... No game is perfect, but I feel like we went there confident, we knew that we were the better team tonight and took care of business.”

The Senators outshot the Sabres 16-5 in the third period, but with just two high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

“I feel like defense played a really big part of it today,” Luukkonen added. “I know it’s a shutout, but I feel like it’s a team effort every time. They were clearing rebounds and boxing out well tonight.”

1. On Wednesday, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff pointed to McLeod as a forward whose role would be amplified with Jiri Kulich (lower-body, week-to-week) out.

Centering Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka for a second straight game, McLeod responded Thursday by tying a single-game career high with three points (1+2) and setting a season high with five shots on goal.

“McLeod has really played well, and we’ve got a real good fit there with him and JJ – that line has created a lot,” Ruff said. “If you look at these couple games, the speed that Clouder’s brought back to our group, it’s just the way we need him to play.”

McLeod assisted on both Quinn goals before extending Buffalo’s lead to 4-0 midway through the second period, banking a shot off defenseman Thomas Chabot’s skate and past Forsberg.

“Trying to step up,” McLeod said. “Obviously, elevated in the lineup, trying to do a little bit more offensively, and it was good to get on the board tonight.”

He exceeded 20 minutes of ice time for a second straight game after not doing so once prior to Monday.

2. With winger Beck Malenstyn and blueliner Mattias Samuelsson both unavailable due to illness, Ruff and the Sabres opted for an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup; Jacob Bryson and Dennis Gilbert both re-entered the mix on the back end while forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel was scratched.

McLeod’s 20:14 of ice time led Sabres forwards, while Tage Thompson (20:05) and Tuch (19:52) also logged big minutes.

“The forwards like it,” Ruff said. “The forwards know automatically they’re gonna get more ice time. I don’t mind it at all. I think it’s a look you can go to, especially if you don’t have a real heavy schedule.”

Buffalo next plays Saturday, then Wednesday – that upcoming slate lent itself to heavy workloads for the Sabres’ top forwards in Ottawa.

3. Just 4:44 into the game, 11 forwards appeared to be reduced to 10 when Jason Zucker was crunched into the boards from behind by Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

Tkachuk was called for charging, while Zucker needed considerable help from linemates Thompson and Cozens to get off the ice and across to Buffalo’s tunnel. But the veteran forward, second on the Sabres with 15 goals, missed less than nine minutes before returning to the ice.

Zucker skated 17:43 in the win despite missing that chunk of the first period.

Tkachuk initially turned down Gilbert’s bid for a fight, but the two dropped the gloves in the third period after a firm Gilbert hit on Nick Jensen.

“We hated it,” Quinn said of Tkachuk’s hit on Zucker. “It’s I don’t think a very good hit on one of our best players. Didn’t love it, but loved the way we played. Nice to see Gibby get a hold of him at the end.”

4. Sabres forward Tyson Kozak, recalled from AHL Rochester on Wednesday morning, played in his fourth career NHL game and first since Dec. 9. The rookie tallied one shot on goal in 7:23 of ice time.

Up next

The Sabres begin a three-game homestand Saturday evening versus the Seattle Kraken. Tickets are available here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 3:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 4.