Morgan Barron scored the tiebreaker with 6:05 left in regulation, highlighting the Winnipeg Jets’ four-goal third period during Sunday’s 5-2 comeback win over the host Buffalo Sabres.
A day after scoring five unanswered in the third for a 5-3 victory at Carolina, the surging Jets nearly matched that output Sunday. Barron put Winnipeg ahead for the first time when he streaked into the Sabres’ zone and unleashed a wrister that beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (30 saves) just prior to the six-minute mark.
Barron’s 10th of the season came a little more than three minutes after Winnipeg, in the mix for the Central Division lead, tied the contest with 9:22 remaining in regulation. A charging Josh Morrissey, while hounded by a defender, kept control of the puck and sent it past Luukkonen.
Morrissey assisted on Nino Niederreiter’s first-period goal, while Vladislav Namestnikov and Sean Monahan each added an empty-netter for the Jets, who have won nine of 11. Laurent Brossoit made 17 saves for Winnipeg.
JJ Peterka posted his 20th goal and Eric Robinson also scored for Buffalo, which had won two straight and five of six before being outshot 35-19 on Sunday.
Winnipeg pushed and crashed the net often while outshooting the Sabres 13-6 during the first period, but Buffalo initiated the scoring with 2:27 remaining in the opening frame.
On the power play, all five Sabres touched the puck, highlighted by some tic-tac-toe passing from Kyle Okposo and Jeff Skinner before finishing with a short-range one-timer from Peterka. However, the Sabres couldn’t hold the lead going into the first intermission.
With 5.5 seconds remaining in the first, Morrissey sent the puck down to the side of the net where a well-stationed Niederreiter converted for his third goal in two games. Morrissey has 15 assists in the last eight games.
Buffalo regained the lead with 10:40 left in the second. Peyton Krebs slid a backhand pass to Robinson, who wristed the puck past Brossoit, as the goaltender may have been partially screened on the play.
–Field Level Media
