Yegor Sharangovich scored twice in a three-point game while Nazem Kadri tallied once and added two assists to lead the host Calgary Flames to a 7-4 victory over the slumping Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Yan Kuznetsov logged a goal and an assist while Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau and Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, which has won three straight games and produced a season-high goal total. Matt Coronato notched two assists, and Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf made 25 saves.
Rasmus Dahlin posted a goal and an assist while Tage Thompson, Owen Power and Alex Tuch each had a goal for the Sabres, who have lost three straight outings. Josh Norris and Jason Zucker recorded two assists apiece.
Buffalo’s starting goalie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, surrendered five goals on 22 shots. Alex Lyon took the net for the third period and stopped all four shots he faced.
Sharangovich opened the scoring just before the midway point of the first period when MacKenzie Weegar’s point shot ricocheted off his arm and into the net.
Andersson doubled the lead during a 5-on-3 power play, converting with an off-speed point shot. His stick broke as he unloaded, and the puck bounded off a defender and into the cage.
Thompson gave the Sabres life with a power-play goal, a top-shelf wrist shot at 4:24 of the second period from the right circle to snap his personal six-game goal drought. That tally began a wild game of chase.
Huberdeau restored Calgary’s two-goal edge with another man-advantage marker, a tap-in tally set up by Coronato at 7:05 of the middle period. Power again pulled Buffalo within one goal with a long wrist shot at 13:43 to snap a 13-game goal drought.
Kadri replied 31 seconds later to make it a 4-2 game, finishing a perfect three-way passing play. However, Dahlin again made it a one-goal game at 16:32 with a neat redirect for his first goal in 15 games.
Kuznetsov put the hosts again ahead by a pair 55 seconds later by driving to the net and burying a loose puck, but it was not over.
Tuch’s power-play goal with 2:31 remaining in the third — on a deflection — again pulled Buffalo within one goal, but empty-net goals by Backlund and Sharangovich quashed the Sabres’ comeback hopes.
–Field Level Media
