The Sharks came into the game with a three-game losing streak, a skid in which they had allowed 14 goals. Something had to give. And it finally did early in the third period of a scoreless game when Cody Hodgson and Nicolas Deslauriers scored back-to-back goals a little more than two minutes apart to lift Buffalo to a 2-1 victory, its second win of the season. Neither goal was a thing of beauty. Buffalo has defeated San Jose seven straight times, the most consecutive wins against the Sharks in Sabres history. It was also Buffalo’s fourth straight win in San Jose, another best for the Sabres in the all-time series. The Sabres opened their four-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Ducks and a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings before beating the Sharks. Sabres goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who improved to 1-2-0, made 29 saves. San Jose's Alex Stalock stopped 13 shots. Hodgson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:43 of the third period, and Deslauriers scored 2:14 later to put the Sabres ahead 2-0. Drew Stafford had the primary assist on Hodgson's goal. He controlled the puck behind San Jose's net and sent a centering pass that bounced off Sharks defenseman Scott Hannan's skate. The puck bounced back toward the net to Hodgson, who knocked it into a wide-open net past Stalock for his first goal of the season.
Deslauriers scored his first goal of the season at 5:57 on a rebound after getting behind Hannan. Stalock stopped Cody McCormick's shot, but he couldn't control the puck, and Deslauriers made him pay. Sabres rookie Sam Reinhart earned an assist on Deslauriers' goal for his first NHL point. Burns quickly answered with an unassisted goal, a blast from well above the left circle through traffic at 6:10, cutting Buffalo's lead to 2-1. Forward Tommy Wingels provided a good screen in front of Neuvirth, and Burns took advantage, scoring his second goal. Burns had a chance to score again with 1:38 left in the third when he ripped a shot through traffic from the right circle, but Neuvirth made a glove save. The Sharks pulled Stalock at that point, but they couldn't get the puck past Neuvirth to force overtime. The Sharks went 0-2 on their homestand; they also lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Thursday. As expected, McLellan shuffled his lines, hoping to tighten up San Jose's defense, but Joe Pavelski remained on the top line with Joe Thornton after centering the third line during practice Friday. The Sabres outshot San Jose 7-5 in a scoreless first period, when neither team generated many good scoring chances. Stalock, making his first start since giving up four goals in a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Oct. 19, made three early saves in a solid start to his game. The Sharks' best chance to score in the period came with 5:41 left when a wide-open Wingels took a pass in the slot but sent his backhand wide of Neuvirth. Buffalo got a scare at 7:36 of the opening period when Wingels sent captain Brian Gionta hard into the boards and to the ice. Gionta remained down for a minute while trainers checked on him, but he skated off under his own power and took his next shift. The Sharks ramped up their energy in a scoreless second period, outshooting the Sabres 9-2. San Jose's Matt Nieto had a good scoring chance early in the period, taking a pass from Chris Tierney in the low slot, but Neuvirth rejected his shot. Late in the period, Tierney tried unsuccessfully to jam the puck past Neuvirth on a wraparound.
Sharks Quotes
Logan Couture: "We shouldn't lose a game like that. We have a lot to figure out right now. I think it's good for us to have a quick turnaround. I think it stings that we lost four in a row. I could care less about what the Buffalo Sabres are doing right now. The San Jose Sharks have lost four straight games and two at home."Todd McLellan: "We just played with them instead of putting our foot on the gas, and that's disappointing. We've had two struggling teams come in and we don't put our foot to the gas pedal until we're down. That's not a good thing for our hockey club."
Marc-Edouard Vlasic: "If you look at their record, obviously it's embarrassing that we lost. But they play well. We were too late on waking up in the third. The good news is we play (Sunday) against one of the best teams in the League. So that will be a good test for us. There's nothing wrong with the Sharks. At some point in the season all teams will lose four in a row. You don't want to, but it will happen. We have a good opportunity against a division rival to get out of it."
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