|
 Goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots for his first shutout of
the season, leading the Ducks to a 1-0 victory over the Buffalo
Sabres on Wednesday night at the Honda Center.
Defenseman Sami Vatanen's power-play goal enabled Andersen to earn
his fourth career shutout and the Ducks (32-19-8) to match their
longest winning streak of the season with their sixth successive
victory.
Anaheim used its 13th win in 15 games to move within two points of
the first-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. The Ducks
increased their lead over the third-place San Jose Sharks to two
points.
Before Wednesday night's win, the Ducks scored 57 goals in their
past 14 games, 23 of them during their winning streak.
"We have to learn how to win 1-0 games," Vatanen said. "It wasn't
our best game, but we found a way to win."
Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau praised Vatanen's play.
"I thought he almost had a couple more goals," Boudreau said. "When
he's playing good, it adds to the offense and the defense. He rushes
pucks, and at the same time, for a little guy, he stands right there
and competes with anybody."
Goalie Robin Lehner made 28 saves for the Sabres, who played their
second consecutive game without center Ryan O'Reilly, the team's
leading scorer. O'Reilly will miss three to four weeks because of a
lower-body injury.
"We've had some great efforts this year, and we're in games with
good teams," said right winger Brian Gionta, the Sabres' captain.
"That's what makes is so frustrating."
Vatanen scored his ninth goal at 3:20 of the second period, 59
seconds after Buffalo defenseman Mark Pysyk received a penalty for
interference. Vatanen dragged a wrist shot from the top of the slot
past Lehner.
"That was a seeing-eye goal that got through a couple of guys,"
Gionta said. "That's how tight this league is, little things like
that. Without that, we're right there."
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The Sabres (24-30-7) had a chance to tie the score on a three-on-one
rush with nearly 4 1/2 minutes left in the second period. However,
Andersen used his glove to deflect left winger Evander Kane's wrist
shot from the left circle. Right winger Justin Bailey tried to
convert the rebound at the right post, but his backhanded shot
ricocheted off Andersen's glove before hitting the post.
Buffalo had another opportunity to force a tie with about 8 1/2
minutes to play. Left winger Marcus Foligno skated through the
defense and took a shot that Andersen blocked with the toe of his
right skate. With the puck motionless on the ice, Gionta over-skated
it. Anaheim right winger Ryan Garbutt immediately cleared the puck.
"That was one I'd like to have back," Foligno said. "Just a couple
of more inches around that pad and I had him."
NOTES: Buffalo scratched D Cody Franson and C Cal O'Reilly. ...
Sabres D Carlo Colaiacovo played in just his third game since Dec.
7. Colaiacovo took D Mike Weber's place in the pairing with D Mark
Pysyk. Buffalo traded Weber to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
... Sabres G Robin Lehner played in his 100th career game. ...
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma played for the former Mighty Ducks of
Anaheim from 2000-04. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer, D
Clayton Stoner and C Harry Zolnierczyk. ... Since the All-Star
break, Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf had a league-leading 16 points and a
plus-13 rating through Tuesday. Getzlaf added an assist against the
Sabres. ... The game drew a crowd of 16,543.
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