BUFFALO, N.Y. — Linus Ullmark made 36 saves and the Buffalo Sabres got goals from Rasmus Dahlin and Jeff Skinner in beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 on Saturday night.
Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret was taken out of the press box on a stretcher early in the third period. It was unclear what happened to the 76-year-old Jeanneret, who opened the broadcast dressed in a red Santa Claus suit and a white beard. He has been the team’s play-by-play man since 1971 — the longest tenure with a single team in NHL history.
Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart each had two assists and Connor Sheary added an empty-net goal as Buffalo snapped a two-game skid in the second game of a back-to-back.
The Ducks finished a five-game road trip with their third consecutive loss following a 9-0-1 stretch. John Gibson stopped 21 shots.
Skinner scored his 26th of the season to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead with 8:35 remaining. Skinner manoeuvred around Ducks defenceman Pontus Aberg to the right edge of the crease and lifted a backhand over Gibson’s glove into the far corner of the net
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead late in the first on a power-play goal from Dahlin, the 18-year-old defenceman selected first overall by Buffalo in this year’s draft.
Dahlin received a pass from Rasmus Ristolainen at the top of the right circle and launched a wrist shot over Gibson’s glove and inside the near post for his fourth of the season. The goal ended an 0-for-9 drought on the power play for the Sabres.
Gibson stopped 15 shots in the second period to keep the Ducks within a goal. His best sequence came when he denied Skinner on a partial breakaway and then slid over to make a glove save on Eichel’s point-blank shot off the rebound.
The Ducks made a push in the third period, but Ullmark made 15 saves and the Sabres killed three penalties.
BEHIND THE MICROPHONE
After the Sabres broadcast went silent for a stretch in the third period, colour commentator Rob Ray took over calling the play by play. Later, pregame and postgame host Brian Duff finished calling the game.
Jeanneret entered the Hockey Hall of Fame as the 2012 recipient of the Foster Hewitt Award. In 2014, he was diagnosed with throat cancer but only missed a few games during the 2014-15 season after receiving treatment. In 2016, he was fitted with a pacemaker due to a slow pulse.
In recent years, Jeanneret and the Sabres reached a deal to scale back his work and have him call about half the team’s games.
NOTES: Ducks D Jake Dotchin received a 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct penalties after he stood in the runway to the dressing room and yelled at the conclusion of the second period. … Reinhart extended his career-best point streak to 12 games. It’s the longest active streak in the NHL. … Eichel recorded a point in his eighth straight game. … Dahlin has 20 points this season, the 10th-most by an NHL defenceman before his 19th birthday. Sabres coach Phil Housley holds the record with 57 points in the 1982-83 season. … Buffalo assigned D Brendan Guhle to Rochester on Saturday after defencemen Jake McCabe and Lawrence Pilut returned from injured reserved for Thursday’s loss at Washington.
UP NEXT
Ducks: At San Jose on Thursday.
Sabres: At St. Louis on Thursday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/tag/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Jonah Bronstein, The Associated Press