Sabres fall to Hurricanes in 6-3 defeat

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres lost for the sixth time in their last seven games on Saturday night, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-3 defeat.

Andrei Svechnikov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Charles Alexis Legault each had a goal and an assist and the Hurricanes extended their winning streak to three games.

Sebastian Aho and Eric Robinson, returning from a six-game absence, also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the fourth time in five games despite using a revolving roster because of injuries. Seth Jarvis and Legault, who didn’t have a career point until a third-period assist, added empty-net goals. Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves.

Owen Power, Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, who trailed 4-1 less than a minute into the third period. Alex Lyon stopped 29 shots. Buffalo has lost two in a row in regulation following a seven-game points streak.

Svechnikov gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal in the second period. It was Carolina’s fifth conversion in 39 man-advantage opportunities this season.

After Robinson scored 29 seconds into the third period, Tuch and Thompson scored less than 3½ minutes apart to cut Buffalo’s deficit to 4-3.

Jarvis had the first empty-net tally for his team-leading ninth goal of the season with 2:04 left. Kochetkov has won in both of his outings this season.

Joel Nystrom and Legault, both Hurricanes defensemen, recorded their first career points with assists. They’ve been pressed into NHL duty because of Carolina’s list of injured blue liners. Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers posted his 300th career assist.

The Sabres had defenseman Jacob Bryson in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 18 with the absence of captain Rasmus Dahlin, who returned to Sweden to tend to a personal matter.

Up next

Sabres: At Utah on Wednesday.

Hurricanes: At Toronto on Sunday.

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