Kane's two goals lift Sabres past Red Wings

DETROIT - Evander Kane noticed that Brian Gionta had already looked his way as the two players skated down their respective wings, Kane on the left and Gionta on the right, and entered the offensive zone in the third period of a tie game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Once Gionta made the perfect pass across and Kane had room to shoot, it's hard to imagine Kane was anything but confident.
Like he has on most of his opportunities as of late, Kane capitalized on that feed from Gionta and buried the game-winning goal with 11:27 remaining in a 4-3 victory for the Sabres at Joe Louis Arena. The goal was Kane's second of the night and his eighth in the last 11 games, putting him one goal behind Kyle Okposo for the team lead despite the fact that he missed 11 games with the cracked ribs he sustained on opening night.

While Kane used his shot to score on the game-winning goal, his coach was more inclined to talk about his first goal of the night - when he jammed in his own rebound on a wrap-around shot - when discussing what's made him successful as of late.

"He's playing with a ton of speed, playing fast, playing physical and playing how he needs to play for us to have success," Dan Bylsma said. "It's a determined goal on the first one, just a forechecking goal. He brings it to the net and is determined and I think you start to see him score more goals around the net, not just the shot that he scored the game-winner on."
As a team, the Sabres were in desperate need of a victory over their Atlantic Division rival after losing back-to-back games in regulation prior to their holiday break. Kane's goal to open the scoring 7:12 into the contest was crucial in that it gave the team something it hadn't had in its last six games: a first-period lead. The Sabres added to that lead when Sam Reinhart scored on the power-play later in the period.
"I think we talked about it this morning a little bit, we've been playing form behind in our last couple games," Bylsma said. "Tonight I thought we came out really strong in the first period, not only the goal but we had a couple good shifts to start off with."
Kane did more than just score goals, though. His speed on the forecheck led to a tripping call against Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith that gave the Sabres a power play in the second period, and his fight against Smith in the final minute of the period provided a boost of energy after the a three-goal exchange had cut Buffalo's lead to 3-2.
"I'm pretty confident in that department too," Kane said, smiling, when asked about his first fight of the season.
Bylsma had said on Tuesday morning that any temptation to reconnect the trustworthy line of Marcus Foligno, Johan Larsson and Gionta in the wake of Ryan O'Reilly's recent appendectomy was resisted due to Kane's recent success alongside Larsson and Gionta. The move was validated when Gionta fed Kane on the final goal, which was scored less than two minutes after Thomas Vanek had tied the game for Detroit on the power play.
"I'm working well with the line I'm on right now," Kane said. "They're doing a good job of getting me the puck. We're finishing off some opportunities and just trying to work hard."

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Eichel gets on the board

Jack Eichel had gone scoreless in five games entering Tuesday night, but he put an end to the drought in style. A mere 22 seconds after Henrik Zetterberg had scored on a bad-angle shot from the corner to make it a 2-1 game late in the second period, Eichel skated wide around former Sabre Thomas Vanek, deked inside and lifted the puck over Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek to restore the two-goal lead.

"Sometimes you get a forward and they're uncomfortable in that situation," Eichel said. "I tried to use my speed and go to the net and luckily I got a goal."
Drew Miller scored 1:02 later to again cut Buffalo's lead in half, but the image of Eichel deking around Vanek remains the most memorable from that three-goal exchange.

Lehner OK after throat scare

Robin Lehner laid face down on the ice and had to be tended to by trainers after Zach Bogosian's stick caught his throat beneath his mask in the third period. He stayed in the game, but a large red welt was visible on his throat afterward.
"I couldn't breathe for a little bit and it was a little tough swallowing but it kind of went away," he said.
Lehner made 40 saves on 43 shots in the victory.

300 for Bylsma

Bylsma had been sitting on 299 wins for quite some time as the Sabres battled through a four-game winless streak prior to their holiday break. It was fitting, however, that the coach was able to celebrate his 300th career victory at Joe Louis Arena, the same rink where he celebrated a Stanley Cup championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
"It's a milestone, I guess," he said afterward. "You're trying to win hockey games in this League and 300 is a nice one to have but it's also just in the pile of games we need to win and we have to keep winning. It's nice to get it. I've had a couple nice wins here in Detroit, add this one on as memorable, but it's also one we need to keep building [on]."

"That's awesome," Eichel added. "It's a great milestone for a coach. I'm just happy for him that he was able to get his 300th win and it's pretty cool he won his 300th game in the same rink that he won a Stanley Cup in. I just want to add to it and get 301 in a few days."

Streaking Sabres

Reinhart extended his point streak to four games (2+3) with his power-play goal in the second period, which came on a tip of a shot by Rasmus Ristolainen from the blue line. The assist for Ristolainen, meanwhile, gave him 16 points (3+13) in his last 16 games.

Up next

The Sabres begin an important home-and-home set with Boston when they host the Bruins at KeyBank Center on Thursday night. With three games in hand, the Sabres currently trail the third-place Bruins by six points in the Atlantic Division standings.
If you're not ableto make it downtown, coverage on Thursday begins with the TOPS Pregame Show at 6:30 p.m. on MSG-B, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops between the Sabres and Bruins at 7 p.m.