Mattias Samuelsson’s shorthanded goal helped stave off a late push by the New York Rangers and propelled the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-2 win at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
The Sabres have won 12 of 13 games for just the fourth time in franchise history. The win pushed them back into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 50 points.
Buffalo was protecting a 3-2 lead when Peyton Krebs was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking with 5:36 remaining in the third period. Samuelsson sped down the left side of the ice and buried a tough-angle shot to extend the lead 14 seconds into the ensuing penalty kill.
Samuelsson finished the night with a goal and an assist, upping his career-high totals to seven goals and 22 points. He also had four blocked shots and two hits in 24:00 of ice time.
Josh Doan opened the scoring to extend his career-best goal streak to four games. Jason Zucker and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist while Alex Tuch scored for the second straight contest.
Colten Ellis made his first appearance in goal since Dec. 9 and stopped 30 of 32 shots.
