Lyon makes 23 saves, Sabres shut out Sharks for 3rd straight win

SAN JOSE -- Alex Lyon made 23 saves for his 10th straight road win, and the Buffalo Sabres scored three goals in the second period en route to their second consecutive shutout victory, 5-0 against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.

The Sabres also defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-0 on Tuesday behind 29 saves from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Lyon became the fifth goaltender in NHL history to have a 10-game road winning streak, joining Devan Dubnyk (11 games in 2014-15), Evgeni Nabokov (11 games in 2009-10 and 10 games in 2007-08), Kevin Lankinen (10 games in 2024-25) and Carey Price (10 games in 2014-15).

"Credit to the guys," Lyon said. "I thought we played a mature game today. Kind of found our way through the first period, then started a pretty explosive two-minute stretch. It was awesome, satisfied we got the win."

Sam Carrick scored twice, and Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (43-20-6), who have won three straight and 11 of 12. Lyon earned his third shutout of the season and his seventh in the NHL.

"I thought their compete early on, they had a higher level than ours. Our goaltender gave us some great saves," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought we passed up a couple of opportunities, then we got rolling offensively."

Buffalo has a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division and is tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Eastern Conference. 

Alex Nedeljkovic made 11 saves for the Sharks (32-29-6), who have lost three in a row. San Jose is two points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"Just some details in our game," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "Some line-change stuff, playing the defensive side of pucks, really, in all three zones. ... Those would be the main areas [of improvement]."

The Sabres scored three times in a 1:43 span in the second period to take a three-goal lead.

Noah Ostlund made it 1-0 at 9:05. The rebound from Josh Doan's shot bounced off the end boards in front to Ostlund, who put the puck in off Nedeljkovic from a sharp angle.

"We had a good first period. I thought [we] came out pretty well, and then, yeah, it was kind of a snowball effect after their first goal," Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said.

Carrick pushed the lead to 2-0 at 9:41 when he buried a wrist shot from above the right face-off circle into the top left corner off a drop pass from Dahlin.

Dahlin extended it to 3-0 at 10:48. Jason Zucker shielded a defender as he broke into the zone and sent a cross-crease pass for Dahlin to tap in past Nedeljkovic's right pad.

"They didn't know I was coming. [Zucker] made a great play on the backhand, and it was just for me to put it in the net," Dahlin said.

Tage Thompson made it 4-0 just 40 seconds into the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle that got under the right arm of Nedeljkovic.

Carrick scored his second goal of the game at 16:54 for the 5-0 final. Logan Stanley's shot from the left point caught a piece of Carrick in front before deflecting into the net off the skate of San Jose defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

Carrick had previously scored at least twice in a game two times in his career, most recently on Nov. 5, 2023, as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

"I think we just started playing more our style of play," he said. "Trying to get a little too cute with it. Good job in the third."

NOTES: Buffalo earned consecutive shutouts for the third time in the past decade, following Jan. 15-18, 2024 (two games) and Jan. 23-25, 2018 (two games). ... Sabres forward Alex Tuch had an assist in 17:36 of ice time in his return after missing the game Tuesday due to an illness. ... The Sabres have scored 10 consecutive road goals dating to their second goal at the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 5. The only times they have had a longer such run are Jan. 22 to Feb. 10, 2018 (13), and March 27 to April 9, 2000 (12). ... Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli left the game in the first period with an undisclosed injury. Warsofsky had no update on his status. ... San Jose defenseman John Klingberg was a healthy scratch.