At the Horn | Sabres 3 - Oilers 2

The Buffalo Sabres snapped a six-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday at KeyBank Center.

Tage Thompson scored two goals, including the third-period game winner, and is now tied for fourth in the NHL with 33 this season.

Alex Tuch also scored for Buffalo – his 25th of the season and ninth in the last 11 games. Josh Norris tallied a primary assist on Thompson’s game winner for his first point with the Sabres.

Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves on 34 shots.

Jason Zucker returned to Buffalo’s lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury. He finished with a plus-one rating in 13:53 of ice time.

Defensemen Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard scored Edmonton’s goals, while Leon Draisaitl notched a pair of assists. And Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 19 of 22 shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Connor Brown had a great early chance for Edmonton, but he was stopped by Luukkonen on a backhand attempt before hitting the post on a wide-angle rebound shot.

A sequence of Sabres scoring chances preceded a Draisaitl breakaway. Luukkonen made a save on the NHL’s leading goal scorer, though.

And Thompson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead moments later at 13:28. He entered the zone, shot from the high slot and chased the rebound to lift it past Skinner. The Sabres had allowed the first goal in seven straight games entering Monday.

Nurse hit another post for the Oilers in the final minute, so Buffalo took its 1-0 lead to the first intermission.

Second Period

Edmonton pressured hard to begin the second and Nurse fired in a slap shot at 1:35 to tie the game.

At 3:52, with a scramble in Luukkonen’s crease leading to a rush the other way, Tuch received Ryan McLeod’s pass in the slot and snapped a shot past Skinner to restore the Sabres’ one-goal lead.

A Max Jones slash gave the Sabres the game’s first power play, but they couldn’t cash in. And a too-many-men penalty then sent Edmonton to the man advantage. There, Bouchard rocketed in a one timer for a 2-2 tie.

Luukkonen stopped another partial Draisaitl breakaway late in the period.

An ensuing Oilers power play was cut short by a Zach Hyman hooking penalty; Hyman was attempting to stop Norris from starting a shorthanded break.

Third Period

Thompson gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead 3:20 into the period with a beautiful move on Skinner. Norris, after making a poke check at the defensive blue line, chased the loose puck into Edmonton’s zone and fed Thompson alone in front. Thompson faked a shot, dragged the puck around the Oilers’ netminder and roofed it for his second goal of the night.

A Mattias Samuelsson hooking penalty sent Edmonton to the power play with 5:27 remaining, but the Sabres killed it off with some key saves from Luukkonen.

The Oilers pulled Skinner with two minutes on the clock, and the Sabres survived their lethal 6-on-5 attack to secure the victory.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

GAME PHOTOS

POSTGAME SOUND

UP NEXT

The Sabres head to Detroit for a Wednesday night matchup with the Red Wings.

Puck drop for the nationally televised game (TNT, Max) is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.