New Jersey Devils vs Buffalo Sabres Box Score on Jan 31, 2021

Michael McLeod and Miles Wood each scored twice as the visiting New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game skid with their 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon.

McLeod, who had one goal in his previous 41 career NHL games, muscled the puck past Carter Hutton (32 saves) with 9:20 left in the third period to give New Jersey a 4-3 lead.

Wood, a Buffalo native who also recorded an assist, added an empty-net goal as the Devils rebounded from Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Sabres by halting an 0-2-1 slide.

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal with an assist while captain Jack Eichel and Victor Olofsson each recorded two assists for Buffalo, which had earned at least one point in five straight contests (3-0-2).

Ristolainen tied the game at 3 early in the third period when he tucked home his own rebound past Eric Comrie (30 saves), who was making his first NHL appearance since December 2019. It was the ninth power-play goal in five games for the Sabres.

After Buffalo scored twice in a span of 1:12 in the second to tie the game at 2, Wood put New Jersey back ahead with 0.9 seconds left in the period. Off a clear from Janne Kuokkanen, Wood skated in and put a shot on Hutton, who made the initial save. However, Wood corralled the rebound and went top shelf to convert.

Just 20 seconds into the contest, McLeod accepted a stretch pass from defenseman P.K. Subban at the blue line and raced in alone and beat Hutton. Then with 16.1 seconds left in the opening frame, the Devils doubled the advantage when Andreas Johnsson was credited with the goal after the puck ricocheted in traffic and past Hutton.

Buffalo halved the deficit with 5:49 left in the middle period on Curtis Lazar's redirection of Ristolainen's slap shot. Shortly after, the Sabres tied things on defenseman Rasmus Dahlin's power-play goal from the point.

--Field Level Media