BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jack Quinn scored twice to help the Buffalo Sabres beat the San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Sunday night.
Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch also scored for Buffalo, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves. The Sabres scored three times in the second period to take control.
“We just did the things we preach as a team,” Quinn said. “We were playing fast and pressuring pucks and getting rewarded for it.”
Nick Bonino, Kevin Labanc and Oskar Lindblom scored for the Sharks, who have lost three in a row and six of their last seven games. Aaron Dell made 32 saves.
“I just thought they were out-everything us,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “They were outskating us, they were out-hitting us, they were doing everything better than we were. At some point in time, you’ve got to say enough’s enough and there’s got to be pushback.”
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had two assists and a big, clean hit on Matt Nieto in the second period. San Jose’s Timo Meier tried to retaliate by going after Dahlin moments later, but missed and crashed into the boards.
“That’s one of the biggest hits I’ve seen in a while,” defenseman Mattias Samuelsson said. “For how skilled he is and how talented he is, for him to have that in his game too it’s pretty impressive. And I think it gave us all a boost.”
Peterka made it 2-2 just 16 seconds into the second period on a partial breakaway. Peterka raced down the left wing and beat Dell to the far side. After scoring against Colorado on Thursday night, the 20-year-old has scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Skinner gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead four minutes later on his 12th goal of the season. Skinner showed good patience in moving from right to left, waiting for Dell to commit before depositing the puck into the net.
Quinn made it 4-2 with 6:15 left in the second on Buffalo’s second power-play goal of the evening. Quinn had some nifty stick-handling before beating Dell with a wrist shot. Quinn’s second goal came with 8:37 remaining on an odd-man rush.
BRYSON RETURNS: Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury. Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin remained out with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host Vancouver on Wednesday night.
Sabres: At Columbus on Wednesday night.
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Mark Ludwiczak, The Associated Press