Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Myers tallied a goal and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, on the same night that Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott were shipped off to St. Louis.
The former Vezina Trophy winner and Ott were sent to the Blues in a blockbuster, five-player trade. The Sabres received goaltender Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, St. Louis' first-rounder in 2015 and a conditional third-round selection in 2016.
Cody Hodgson lit the lamp on the power play, while Brian Flynn and Matt Moulson supplied Buffalo's other two goals. Jhonas Enroth made 36 saves in Buffalo's third straight win.
"We swept San Jose this year, which is a very tough thing to say for some teams. They are a heck of a hockey team. We played smart in the second period. They were good in the second period. They came at us pretty hard and in the third we kind of got back at them," said Marcus Foligno.
The Sabres have won six straight against San Jose and hold a 15-1-0 record at home in the all-time matchup.
James Sheppard and Patrick Marleau notched San Jose's two goals and Antti Niemi allowed three goals on 19 shots. The Sharks have not won in Buffalo since Dec 2, 2005.
Hodgson skated in from the boards and wristed a shot from the left circle to beat Niemi short side to give the Sabres an early 1-0 lead on the power play at the 10:59 mark of the first.
Sheppard put the Sharks on the board two minutes later. Marc-Edouard Vlasic ripped a shot off the boards and Sheppard was present in front of the net to sneak a shot through the pads of Enroth off a lively bounce from the boards.
"It's a game, they were going to come out and play. They got a little shake up. They lost a couple of really good players. They were going to come out and play hard," Joe Pavelski said.
Zemgus Girgensons won the faceoff back to Flynn, who grabbed the puck and snapped a quick shot to beat Niemi for his sixth of the season 4:33 into the final stanza.
Moulson added to the lead just over three minutes later. Myers kept the puck in at the point and made a nice move past a defender. He shuffled a pass over to Moulson in the slot, who wristed the puck past Niemi.
The Sharks pulled the goalie in the waning minutes of the third. Dan Boyle skated in from the blue line and sent the puck along the boards down below the goal line. Joe Thornton retrieved the puck and dished a pass to Marleau in the slot, who tipped the puck past Enroth with 1:15 to play.
Myers added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left to account for the final score.
Game Notes
Sheppard's goal was his first in 35 games ... Desperate for a backup goaltender after the trade, Buffalo dressed Ryan Vinz. The 28-year-old is currently the Director of Hockey Technology at HarborCenter and was formerly a video scout for the franchise ... Moulson extended his point streak to five games ... San Jose outshot Buffalo 18-5 in the second.
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