Dec 29, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) controls the puck as Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26) defends during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist to lead the visiting Buffalo Sabres past the St. Louis 4-2 on Sunday.
Peyton Krebs and Juri Kulich also scored for the Sabres, who won their third straight game following a 13-game winless stretch. Jack Quinn had two assists for Buffalo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves.
Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues and Colton Parayko earned two assists.
St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 16 shots faced.
The Blues earned a 16-6 shots advantage in the first period, but they emerged with a 2-1 deficit.
The Sabres didn’t put a shot on goal during the first 6:51. But then Krebs scored off a set faceoff play, converting Byram Bowen’s pass from the left point with a one-time shot.
Buffalo doubled its lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal. Zucker found Thompson coming down the middle for a wide-open shot from the slot.
The Blues cut that lead to 2-1 with a 4-on-4 goal. Parayko fired a slap shot from the blue line and Schenn crashed the net to punch in the rebound.
Krebs had a breakaway for Buffalo midway through the second period, but his shot sailed high of the goal. Later in the period, Binnington had to make an arm save on Zach Benson’s breakaway to keep the Blues close.
The Blues tied the game 2-2 at the 5:56 mark of the third period after Alexey Toropchenko drove the net. Parayko fired a rebound shot from a sharp angle, then Walker jammed in the rebound at the right post.
With 9:30 left, the Sabres regained the lead 3-2 with a power-play goal. Zucker popped open, took a pass from Quinn and scored on a turnaround shot.
Kulich made it 4-2 off the rush, breaking in on right wing to beat Binnington between his pads.
–Field Level Media
