Chris Kreider gives Rangers OT win against Sabres

BUFFALO-- Chris Kreider scored with 1:04 left in overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Kreider received a pass from J.T. Miller and took a one-timer that beat goalie Robin Lehner for his 20th goal of the season. It came four seconds after a slashing penalty to Sabres defenseman Taylor Fedun ended.
"I knew the time was running [out] on the power play so I knew there was pretty much one chance for one odd-man break, and I knew when [Kreider] gave it to me I had pretty much made my mind up I was going to go back to him, and he did a good job of burying it," Miller said.

WATCH:All Rangers vs. Sabres highlights
Henrik Lundqvist made 36 saves for the Rangers (32-18-1), who ended a two-game losing streak and are 7-0-1 in their past eight road games.
"I thought this was a great hockey game," New York coach Alain Vigneault said. "You had everything you needed in a hockey game: great goaltending, scoring chances on both sides, two teams working extremely hard for every inch that was available out there. For us, it turned out well and we were able to get it down in overtime on a great play by J.T. and [Kreider]."
Lehner made a season-high 42 saves for the Sabres (20-20-10), who have lost three straight and had a four-game home winning streak end.
"They got a power play in overtime, that's the difference," Lehner said. "It was a good game. I think both teams played well, traded a little bit too many chances."
Sabres defenseman Cody Franson tied it 1-1 with 5:31 left in the third period. His third goal of the season came when he put a rebound of a Tyler Ennis shot that Ryan O'Reilly tapped back to him past Lundqvist.
Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal with 2:10 left in the second period. He tipped a shot from the blue line by defenseman Ryan McDonagh past Lehner.
Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian left the game with 4:41 left in the first period with a mid-body injury. He was checked in the corner by Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey, but Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said the injury occurred before that.

Goal of the game

Kreider's goal gave him his third straight 20-goal season.

Save of the game

Lehner made a leg save against Michael Grabner 1:09 into the second period.

Highlight of the game

Lundqvist's save against Kyle Okposo after a pass from Jack Eichel 31 seconds into overtime prevented the Sabres from winning.

Unsung performance of the game

Grabner was a consistent threat with his speed and had six shots on goal. He also drew the penalty against Fedun in overtime.

They said it

"It was befitting that it was an overtime game. It was a lot of fun. Robin played really well on the other side. It's a little special for me to go up against him. The first time he was 12 in the backyard of his dad's house just working on his game, and now 13 years later I'm going up against him in the NHL." -- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on fellow Swede Robin Lehner
"It was awesome. He made some really good saves when they could've went up or tied it. We feel great when he's back there playing like that. I know that he knows he can play like that, and that's just another prime example of what he's done over the last decade." -- Rangers forward J.T. Miller on Henrik Lundqvist
"I think we were taking it to them pretty good. Our line, we were feeling good about what we were doing. Then [Ryan O'Reilly's] line goes out there and follows it up … and we get a goal. But it was a tough, tough, tough loss for some of the things we did out there." -- Sabres left wing Evander Kane
"I thought we did a lot of good things in this game. I thought this was a pretty good bounce-back game for us. … We paid attention to what made us play the way we did in (a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday), and I thought we responded pretty well." -- Sabres defenseman Cody Franson

Need to know

The Rangers lead the NHL with 18 road wins. … New York had a season-high 44 shots on goal. … Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen played the second-highest ice time in his NHL career (32:47). He played 35:24 on Jan. 20 against the Detroit Red Wings. … Zuccarello has two goals and 17 assists in the past 18 games.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Calgary Flames on Sunday (2 p.m. ET; SN360, MSG, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, MSG-B, NHL.TV)