Sharks hand Sabers fifth in a row
(Buffalo) – After scoring three goals in the first period, the San Jose Sharks finally beat the Sabers 3-2 in Buffalo on Thursday.
Tomas Hertl punctuated the push with his 17e goal, after the nets of Timo Meier and Matt Nieto. All three goals were scored in 4: 57.
Meier leads the Sharks with 36 points, including 14 goals.
Hertl completed a three-on-two with a wrist shot, following a pass from Alexander Barabanov.
Jeff Skinner and Zemgus Girgensons hit the mark in the following periods, but San Jose had the final say after losing to Pittsburgh and Detroit.
Winning goaltender Adin Hill made 37 saves, 19 more than Ukko-Pekkaa Luukkonen.
The Sabers have lost their last five games, including four times by just one goal.
The Canadian Press
Bratt and the Devils get the better of the Blue Jackets
(Newark) – Jesper Bratt scored the winning goal early in the third period and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Thursday night.
PHOTO BILL KOSTROUN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jesper Bratt (63) and Vladislav Gavrikov (44)
MacKenzie Blackwood turned away 31 pucks for the Devils, who posted a fourth victory in their last five games. The two teams will cross swords again on Saturday night in Columbus.
Bratt accepted a pass from Jack Hughes and he defeated goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in the 76th second of play of the third period, on the power play. Bratt leads the Devils with 32 points this season.
Hughes ended the game with one goal and two assists and has 12 points in his last five outings. Tomas Tatar also hit the mark for the New Jersey roster.
The Devis had to make do without the services of attackers Yegor Sharangovich, Pavel Zacha and Andreas Johnsson, who are on the sidelines due to COVID-19 protocols.
Max Domi scored the only goal for the Blue Jackets, who suffered a third straight loss. Korpisalo made 25 saves.
Allan Kreda, The Canadian Press