Sabres hold off Devils, gain in East wild card race

BUFFALO -- Alex Tuch had two goals and an assist, and the Buffalo Sabres ended a four-game skid with a 5-4 win against the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center on Friday.

Tuch has six points (four goals, two assists) in six games since returning from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss eight games.
"I really pushed hard to get back, and sometimes that comes with a little bit more inconsistency and a feeling out process getting back into it," Tuch said. "Jumping back in wasn't the easiest, but I thought my teammates really helped me out just pushing and getting back to the grind. And having fun too; I thought tonight we had a lot more fun than we've had, especially since we won. Just playing our game and playing fast."
Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist, and JJ Peterka had two assists for the Sabres (34-31-6), who were 0-3-1 in their previous four games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.
Buffalo moved within six points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Sabres will play again Saturday at the New York Islanders.
"That was big for us. Obviously, we've been struggling lately," Cozens said. "To come out and get the first one and the first few, it was big for us. Obviously, we don't quite like how we ended it. We let them back in it, but we got the win. That's what matters."

Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist, and Kevin Bahl had a goal and an assist for the Devils (45-19-8), who have lost five of six (1-3-2). Akira Schmid allowed three goals on seven shots before being replaced in the first period by Vitek Vanecek, who made 17 saves.
New Jersey would have clinched a playoff berth with a victory and remained two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils will host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
"I don't know why we played like this tonight," New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. "Maybe it was some pressure. We were able to clinch today if we win; maybe that was kind of in our head, I don't know. We know we didn't play our best, and I think it's important to know that we didn't play good."
Cozens gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 6:29 of the first period with a backhand, and Tage Thompson made it 2-0 just 39 seconds later at 7:08 when he got past Devils defenseman Ryan Graves and lifted the puck under the crossbar for his 44th goal of the season and 100th of his NHL career.

Yegor Sharangovich cut it to 2-1 at 9:07 after he took a pass from Michael McLeod at the side of the net off the rush, but Quinn made it 3-1 at 10:55 after a cross-ice feed from Cozens.
Vanecek replaced Schmid after Quinn's goal.
"It was definitely not on our goaltender," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Our goaltenders have been big for us. They've made big saves. They went through a lot of people before they got to our goaltender."
Bahl cut it to 3-2 at 18:46 after his shot from the right circle hit the stick of Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.
Tuch scored from the high slot at 4:50 of the second period to give Buffalo a 4-2 lead, then extended it to 5-2 on a redirection from Rasmus Dahlin on the power play at 16:38.

Hughes appeared to score on a backhand 16 seconds later at 16:54, but the Sabres challenged for offside and the goal was overturned after video review confirmed Devils forward Ondrej Palat preceded the puck into the zone.
Hughes scored far side from the right circle to at 5:20 of the third period to cut it to 5-3, then from the bottom of the right circle on the power play at 9:33 for the 5-4 final.
"I felt like everything clicked today finally," Dahlin said. "The [defensemen] had really good gap and we denied their entries. We played hard in the [defensive] zone. Some skill came out. This game was really good for us.
"We've just got to keep pushing and keep battling. We know what we can do, and today was a good sign of a step forward."
NOTES: Thompson left the game midway through the first period and returned early in the second, but Sabres coach Don Granato said the forward is "a question mark" to play Saturday. … Hughes had his 28th multipoint game of the season, setting a record for most in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts franchise history (Taylor Hall had 27 in 2017-18). It was Hughes' ninth multigoal game, most by a Devils player in a single season since Brian Gionta had 10 in 2005-06.