Dorsett helps lead Canucks past Sabres

BUFFALO -- Derek Dorsett missed most of last season because of neck surgery but has provided an offensive spark for the Vancouver Canucks early this season.
The forward had two goals and an assist to help the Canucks to a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday.

Dorsett's shorthanded goal made it 2-2 at 5:52 of the second period. He put a rebound of a shot by Brandon Sutter past Chad Johnson after a 2-on-1 against Sabres defenseman Matt Tennyson. It was the sixth shorthanded goal allowed by the Sabres this season.
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Sabres highlights]
"I saw that [Sutter] got a little break there and a little 2-on-1 and I knew he was going to shoot and I just wanted to make sure I went to the net, but at the same time if I had to peel away if the puck goes behind I can track it down," Dorsett said. "It was right off the pad and basically right on my stick, so it was an easy one to put in."
Dorsett scored an empty-net goal at 19:38 of the third period that made it 4-2. He had an assist on Markus Granlund's first-period goal that tied it 1-1 at 11:56.
Dorsett had four points (one goal, three assists) in 14 games last season. He has five points (four goals, one assist) in seven games this season.

"Yeah, he's going pretty well right now, knock on wood," Canucks coach Travis Green said of Dorsett, who had surgery Dec. 5. "To sit here with four goals after seven games says a lot about his game right now and about his character."
The Canucks (3-3-1) are 2-1-0 on their five-game road trip. The Sabres (1-5-2) have lost two straight games.
Daniel Sedin made it 3-2 at 8:10 of the second period after he put a rebound of his own shot past Johnson after a pass from Henrik Sedin.
Sabres coach Phil Housley challenged the goal, saying forward Jake Virtanen was offside, but after video review it was ruled Virtanen had possession and control of the puck as he entered the zone prior to the goal.
Justin Bailey gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 1:00 of the first period. Ryan O'Reilly passed the puck across the left circle to Bailey, who slipped it past goalie Jacob Markstrom with a backhand for his second goal.

Jack Eichel gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 17:20 of the first. Eichel received a pass from Rasmus Ristolainen deep in the Sabres zone and skated into the Canucks zone, where he puck-handled past defenseman Ben Hutton and beat Markstrom for his third goal.
Johnson made 37 saves for Buffalo. Markstrom made 20 for Vancouver.

Goal of the game

Virtanen found Henrik Sedin skating into the offensive zone, where he passed to his left to Daniel Sedin, who had his one-timer saved by Johnson then scored on his rebound.

Save of the game

Johnson's best came at 8:24 of the first period when he made a leg-pad stop on Virtanen, who was driving through the slot.

Highlight of the game

O'Reilly's backhand pass to Bailey followed by Bailey's deke to beat Markstrom got the Sabres off to a good start.

They said it

"They are so fun to play with, you know. They make things really easy out there. Really good in the [defensive] zone, good 200-foot game, they lay pucks for me in the zone where I can go get them. They're super smart, obviously, that's one of their biggest things, their hockey IQ and how smart they are out there. So it's a lot of fun to play with them." -- Canucks forward Jake Virtanen about playing with Henrik and Daniel Sedin
"It was gross. That was gross. We didn't come out ready to play. It was what we had stressed, what we had talked about. We didn't do it, we didn't do it. That's on us." -- Sabres forward Kyle Okposo

Need to know

Sabres defenseman Nathan Beaulieu did not play in the third period because of an upper-body injury. Housley said he is day to day. ... Okposo was benched for most of the third period.

What's next

Canucks: At the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SN1, TVA Sports, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Sabres:At the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)