Quinn scores twice, Sabres hold off Ducks for 3rd straight victory

BUFFALO -- Jack Quinn scored twice, and the Buffalo Sabres held on for a 5-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist, Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson each had two assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 31 saves for the Sabres (24-15-4), who won their third straight game and have won 13 of 14 for the first time in their history.

“I think we’re still trying to improve every day and keep getting better, keep kind of pushing the limit of what we can get to,” Quinn said. “Definitely want to clean up the end of games, especially for ‘Upie’. He’s stood on his head, all our goalies have, so try to clean it up near the end of the games.”

Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist, and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves for the Ducks (21-21-3), who have lost nine straight (0-8-1).

“We weren’t great to start the game. We got behind, but we were in the game,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’re down two, then it goes to three, and it looks like we had no chance. Then all of a sudden the pucks are going in.

“I think we had some good chances and the quality was probably enhanced at the end, but we didn’t get enough traffic on him, we didn't get enough greasy stuff around the net, and when we shot, he was big. We got some by him because we started going a little bit up.”

Quinn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:03 of the first period, taking a feed from Ryan McLeod on a 2-on-1 and putting it high over Dostal’s glove from low in the right circle. It was his first goal since Dec. 18, ending a nine-game drought.

“Sometimes goal-scorers go through a little stretch like that, but it was good," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "He’s working hard, he’s skating well, he’s in on a good number of chances, so that’s big for us."

Thompson made it 2-0 from the doorstep at 7:22. Josh Doan started the play by stealing the puck from Tim Washe high in the zone and giving it to Krebs, who took it to the left circle before sending it to Thompson on the far side.

“That’s part of the game I take a lot of pride in, is getting back and forcing turnovers,” Doan said. “It’s one of those things where you can create a lot of offense from that, and tonight’s a perfect example. Obviously ‘Krebsie’ makes an amazing play over to ‘Tommer’ to score it, but that’s something a lot of our group has taken pride in the last couple of games, is hunting back and creating offense off turnovers."

Bowen Byram jumped up into the slot to receive a pass from Thompson behind the net and snap it off the right post and in to push it to 3-0 at 7:09 of the third period.

Olen Zellweger took a feed from Jackson LaCombe to the net and slipped a backhand through Luukkonen’s pads at 15:16 to cut it to 3-1.

Quinn scored 44 seconds later, beating Dostal far side from above the right circle to make it 4-1 at 16:00.

Carlsson narrowed it to 4-2 at 18:02 when his wrist shot from the left circle deflected off Rasmus Dahlin’s stick and went over Luukkonen’s glove, and with Dostal pulled for the extra attacker, Mason McTavish beat Luukkonen glove side to pull the Ducks within 4-3 at 19:12.

Josh Norris scored an empty-net goal at 19:49 for the 5-3 final.

“We gave away a lot of odd-man rushes, some bad pinches and stuff and not getting our feet back on the backcheck," Carlsson said. "Tough one."

NOTES: Dostal stopped Benson on a penalty shot in the first period, the second such save by an Anaheim goalie this season. Only three other teams (Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders and Vegas Golden Knights) have as many. … Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba was scratched. He returned home for the expected birth of his child. … Doan extended his point streak to a career-high five games (six points; four goals, two assists). … Thompson’s goal was his 19th at even strength this season, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon (29), Connor McDavid (20) and Macklin Celebrini (20). … Buffalo won for the 10th time in 11 games since Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Kevyn Adams as general manager on Dec. 15, tying Bryan Murray (with the Ottawa Senators) and Pierre Lacroix (with the Quebec Nordiques) for the fewest games by a GM to reach 10 wins with a single team.