Joe Yerdon – NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO – Marcus Foligno had a goal and two assists and Jack Eichel scored his 18th goal of the season to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-3 win against the Calgary Flames at First Niagara Center on Thursday.
The Sabres are 10-0-2 against the Flames since Calgary’s last regulation win in Buffalo on March 15, 1996.
Robin Lehner made 26 saves for Buffalo (26-31-8); the Sabres avoided a third straight loss. Jonas Hiller made 29 saves for Calgary (26-34-4); the Flames have lost seven straight games.
Both teams combined for five goals in the second period after they went scoreless in the first.
Mikael Backlund opened the scoring 3:18 into the second with his 12th goal of the season when he put a rebound off of a shot from forward Garnet Hathaway past Lehner to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen made it 1-1 with 9:33 left in the second with his ninth goal of the season. Ristolainen pinched in from the blue line and took a quick one-timer after a pass behind the net from Brian Gionta that beat Hiller through the five-hole.
Foligno and Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton traded goals 15 seconds apart.
Foligno made it 2-1 with 4:03 left in the period with a shorthanded goal when he slid the puck through the legs of Flames defenseman TJ Brodie, deked and put a backhanded shot past Hiller. Hamilton made it 2-2 with a power-play goal when he skated into the right faceoff circle and took a wrist shot that beat Lehner high to the short side.
Nicolas Deslauriers made it 3-2, his fourth goal of the season, with 2:46 left in the period. After a turnover by Flames center Sean Monahan, Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian passed to Deslauriers who took a wrist shot that beat Hiller high to the glove side.
Monahan made it 3-3 with his 21st goal of the season 3:56 into the third period.
Johan Larsson put the Sabres ahead 4-3 with 10:29 left in the third when he received a pass in front of the Flames net from Gionta and lifted a backhand shot that beat Hiller over his left shoulder for his fourth goal of the season.
Eichel gave the Sabres a 5-3 lead with 7:14 left in the third period with a power play goal. Eichel received a pass from Evander Kane and took a shot from the blue line that got through a screen of players in front past Flames goalie Jonas Hiller to his blocker side for his 18th goal of the season.
Kane added an empty-net goal, his 18th of the season, with 1:31 remaining.
(Reprinted with permission of the Buffalo Sabres)
