San Jose Sharks at Buffalo Sabres

· National Hockey League

San Jose Sharks

30-26-6

Final
3 - 6

Buffalo Sabres

40-19-6

Jack Quinn scores 3 and Buffalo Sabres beat San Jose Sharks 6-3 for 8th straight win

Jason Zucker and Beck Malenstyn broke the game open by scoring four minutes apart in the second period. Alex Tuch also scored, posting his 300th career point with Buffalo, in his 600th career NHL game, and captain Rasmus Dahlin and Ryan McLeod had three assists each.

Alex Lyon stopped 17 shots, improving to 15-2 in his past 17 starts.

Macklin Celebrini, Kiefer Sherwood and Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose, which opened a five-game road trip a point behind eighth-place Seattle in the Western Conference standings. Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves.

Celebrini’s goal was the 19-year-old Canadian Olympian’s 33rd and 90th point in his 62nd game of the season. The only NHL players in their teens to reach 90 points in fewer games are Sidney Crosby (54 games in 2006-07) and Wayne Gretzky (56, 1979-80).

The Atlantic Division-leading Sabres, coming off a thrilling 8-7 win over Tampa Bay, improved to 29-5-2 in their past 36 outings — a run that began with a 10-game win streak.

At 40-19-6, Buffalo continued closing in on ending an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought. Buffalo’s 40 wins are the second most in its past 15 years, and two short of matching the team's 2022-23 season total.

The Sabres took a 3-1 lead on Malenstyn’s goal 4:59 into the second period. Buffalo’s Peyton Krebs chipped the puck out of his zone, and Malenstyn chased it down before working his way around defenseman Sam Dickinson and beating Askarov on the glove side.

Zucker made it 4-1 by tapping in a rebound after Aksarov stopped Quinn’s one-timer from the left circle.

Up next Sharks: At Boston on Thursday night.

Sabres: Host Washington on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 4:12	Jack Quinn Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Jason Zucker (16), Ryan McLeod (34)
Goal	1st Period 5:39	Alex Tuch Goal (28) Tip-In, assists: Rasmus Dahlin (45), Mattias Samuelsson (24)
Goal	1st Period 12:54	Macklin Celebrini Goal (33) Wrist Shot, assists: Will Smith (26)
Goal	2nd Period 4:59	Beck Malenstyn Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Peyton Krebs (21), Rasmus Dahlin (46)
Goal	2nd Period 8:51	Jason Zucker Goal (20) Backhand, assists: Jack Quinn (28), Owen Power (16)
Goal	2nd Period 19:29	Kiefer Sherwood Goal (20) Snap Shot, assists: Mario Ferraro (11), Alexander Wennberg (28)
Goal	3rd Period 0:42	Jack Quinn Goal (14) Snap Shot, assists: Ryan McLeod (35), Rasmus Dahlin (47)
Goal	3rd Period 6:56	Alexander Wennberg Goal (13) Backhand, assists: Tyler Toffoli (24)
Goal	3rd Period 17:14	Jack Quinn Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: Ryan McLeod (36)

Statistics

SJ		BUF
16	Blocked Shots	14
23	Hits	21
4	Takeaways	7
20	Shots	26
1	Power Play Goals	0
3	Power Play Opportunities	1
33.3	Power Play Percentage	0.0
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
27	Faceoffs Won	28
49.1	Faceoff Win Percent	50.9
17	Giveaways	14
5	Total Penalties	6
24	Penalty Minutes	18

Buffalo Sabres Injuries

NAME, POS	STATUS	DATE
Tanner Pearson, LW	Day-To-Day	Mar 22
Jiri Kulich, C	Injured Reserve	Mar 6
Jordan Greenway, LW	Injured Reserve	Feb 25
Justin Danforth, RW	Injured Reserve	Jan 26

San Jose Sharks Injuries

NAME, POS	STATUS	DATE
Ryan Reaves, RW	Out	Mar 23
Vincent Desharnais, D	Day-To-Day	Mar 22
Igor Chernyshov, LW	Day-To-Day	Mar 22
Tyler Toffoli, C	Out	Mar 21
Ty Dellandrea, C	Injured Reserve	Mar 13