Sharks score 4 3rd-period goals to pull away for 6-2 win over Sabres

By Canadian Press on March 4, 2025.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rookies Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini both scored in San Jose’s four-goal third period as the Sharks pulled away for a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Smith, William Eklund, Timothy Liljegren and Tyler Toffoli all had a goal and an assist each as the Sharks won back-to-back games after snapping an 0-5-3 skid with a shootout win at Toronto on Monday night.

Eklund made it a 3-1 game with 17:41 left in the third period with a wrist shot. Shakir Mukhamadullin and Toffoli each got an assist on the goal.

JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres.

Alexandar Georgiev made 20 saves for the Sharks. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 22 saves for the Sabres.

Takeaways

Smith and Celebrini are the third duo of Sharks rookies to reach the 30-point threshold in the same season, the first since 2006-07.

Peterka extended his point streak to six games, in which he’s combined for three goals and four assists, but the Sabres lost their fourth game in a row. Thompson has 28 points (14 goals and 14 assist) in his last 25 games.

Key moment

Celebrini’s goal at the 12:02 mark of the third period came 63 seconds after Thompson scored to cut the Sharks lead to 3-2. Celebrini used Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram as a screen in snapping a shot from the top of the right circle inside the far left post.

Key stat

Marc-Edouard Vlasic is now the career leader in blocked shots in the NHL. Vlasic’s third blocked shot Tuesday against the Sabres gives him 2,165 for his career, breaking the record set by Mark Giordano. The NHL has tracked blocked shots since the 2005-2006 season.

Up next

The Sharks visit Colorado and the Sabres play at Tampa Bay, both on Thursday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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