It was a tough one for the Sharks from the get-go against a red-hot Buffalo Sabres team, as the Sharks drop the first of five consecutive road games by a score of 6-3.
The Sabres jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch. Later in the opening period, Macklin Celebrini got the Sharks on the board with his 33rd goal and 90th point of the season, assisted by Will Smith. With this goal, Macklin Celebrini became the fourth player in Sharks history and ninth teenager in NHL history to score 90 or more points in a season. A few minutes after, two separate fights occurred: the first one at center ice between Zack Ostapchuk and Logan Stanley, followed by the second of two between Barclay Goodrow and Beck Malenstyn after Malenstyn took a cheap shot at Celebrini.
Early in the second period, the Sabres scored twice more on goals from Beck Malenstyn and Jason Zucker to extend their lead to three. Later in the middle frame, Dmitry Orlov laid a great hip check on Tage Thompson, and a massive scuffle involving every skater on the ice at the time ensued. With about 30 seconds remaining in the second period, the Sharks cut their deficit to two on Kiefer Sherwood's career-best 20th goal of the season, assisted by Mario Ferraro and Alex Wennberg.
The Sabres began the third period with Jack Quinn's second goal of the game to make it 5-2. San Jose followed that up with Alex Wennberg's 13th goal of the season to make it a two-goal game once more, assisted by Tyler Toffoli. With about a few minutes remaining in this contest, Buffalo finished this one off with an empty-netter from Jack Quinn to complete his hat trick.
Yaroslav Askarov recorded 20 saves on 25 shots against to begin this five-game road trip for the Sharks. In addition, Philipp Kurashev was back in the Sharks lineup tonight in Buffalo, while Ryan Reaves came out of the lineup as a result. Nick Leddy was recalled from the Barracuda to ride the bench as the seventh defenseman, while Nolan Allan was sent down to the Barracuda.
Regardless of how good the Sharks and Sabres are during any given season, the Sharks have often struggled when facing the Sabres in Buffalo, and this was especially the case tonight. With the Sabres firing on all cylinders, riding an eight-game win streak, and finding themselves atop the Atlantic Division, I did not expect the Sharks to pull off a victory in this game. On a more positive note, a few important Sharks player milestones were accomplished: 90 points for Macklin Celebrini and 20 goals for Kiefer Sherwood this season. The Sharks travel to Boston to face the Bruins in their next game on Thursday at 4 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports California, NHL App
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