{allcanada} Ristolainen seals Sabres 4-3 OT win over Oilers

 

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Rasmus Ristolainen scored from the left circle 57 seconds into overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Tuesday night.

The Sabres scored twice in a span of 86 seconds, with Evander Kane forcing overtime by scoring with 29 seconds left in regulation. Kane had two goals and Brian Gionta also scored as Buffalo rallied after squandering a 2-0 first-period lead.

Anders Nilsson stopped 34 shots, closing his legs to foil Edmonton star Connor McDavid on a short-handed breakaway in the third period.

Leon Draisaitl, Milan Lucic and Jordan Eberle scored for the Oilers, who improved to 3-0-2 on the road despite the loss. McDavid had two assists.

The five-game point streak is the Oilers' longest on the road since going 5-0-2 from March 6 to April 1, 2012.

The game was decided when Ristolainen played give-and-go with center Ryan O'Reilly just inside Edmonton's blue line. O'Reilly passed to Ristolainen atop the left circle and his rising slap shot beat Cam Talbot, who was partially screened in front by Buffalo's Kyle Okposo. Ristolainen also had two assists.

Kane forced overtime by converting a rebound in front. O'Reilly's shot from the right circle hit the right post and bounced into the crease. As Edmonton defenseman Kris Russell was attempting to clear the puck, Kane slapped at it and sent it into the open side.

Kane's third goal of the season made up for a costly cross-checking penalty, which resulted in Draisaitl deflecting in McDavid's pass for a power-play goal that put the Oilers ahead 3-2 with 10:01 left.

After Buffalo scored twice in the first period, the Oilers tied the game with two goals in a span of 105 seconds in the second.

It was the second meeting between McDavid and Buffalo's Jack Eichel, the first two players selected in the 2015 draft. Eichel had an assist on Ristolainen's goal.

In their first meeting on March 1, McDavid scored the opening goal 22 seconds in and then sealed the 2-1 win 3:48 into overtime.

The Oilers were the more rested team, having traveled to Buffalo on Monday following a 2-1 overtime home loss to Minnesota on Sunday. The Sabres were coming off a 3-2 overtime loss at Washington on Monday night.

NOTES: Oilers rookie RW Jesse Puljujarvi returned after being a healthy scratch the past three games. ... Sabres D Dmitry Kulikov has chance to return on Friday after missing 12 games with lower back injury. ... McDavid missed last season's game against Eichel at Edmonton because of a broken collarbone. Eichel was sidelined with a sprained ankle in Buffalo's 6-2 win at Edmonton in October. ... McDavid snapped a two-game point drought. The NHL's points leader this season has never gone without a point in three straight in 73 career games.

UP NEXT

Oilers: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Sabres: Hosts Washington on Friday night.

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