The Buffalo Sabres saw defenseman Victor Antipin taken off the ice on a stretcher after being boarded. Then
Joonas Donskoi Jersey , they took it out on the Nashville Predators by scoring three goals on the ensuing 5-minute major.
”We were able to make them pay a little bit,” Buffalo center Sam Reinhart said.
Reinhart had a hat trick with Jack Eichel adding a career-high five assists as the Sabres stunned the NHL-leading Predators 7-4 Saturday night.
”It’s never easy to see a teammate get injured,” Eichel said. ”It was a good job by our team responding and putting it on the scoreboard where it
counts.”
The Predators needed a win and a regulation loss by Winnipeg to clinch their first Central Division title, and a loss by Vegas in any fashion for the
defending Western Conference champs for their first conference banner in the
regular season. But Winnipeg beat Toronto 3-1, and the Predators played a sloppy
game giving up a season-high in goals to the NHL’s last-place team.
Despite a league-worst 60 points, the Sabres outshot Nashville from the start and chased goalie Pekka Rinne after he gave up six goals on 29 shots through two
periods.
Jason Pominville and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for Buffalo, and Eichel tied a franchise single-game record with his assists.
P.K. Subban, Austin Watson, Kyle Turris and Nick Bonino scored for Nashville.
The Sabres took control with the three goals – two by Reinhart – during those 5 minutes after Antipin was boarded by Nashville forward Scott Hartnell behind
the Buffalo net at 14:09 of the second. Antipin was strapped to a backboard and
taken off the ice on a stretcher.
”The guys rallied around Victor and made a point to come out, and that was the difference in the game,” Buffalo coach Phil Housley said.
Reinhart tied it up at 4 just 55 seconds into the power play, and he put Buffalo ahead at 17:18 with his second goal. Kyle Okposo scored his second of
the night at 19:00 for the big lead.
”You’re taught as a young kid obviously to finish your checks
Authentic Mike Cammalleri Jersey ,” Hartnell said of his hit on Antipin. ”I wasn’t head-hunting. We were leading the game at that time. A 5-minute penalty,
and they scored three quick ones and it’s a totally different ballgame. It’s
just unfortunate. I feel really bad about it.”
This game also marked the NHL debut of Nashville rookie Eeli Tolvanen , and coach Peter Laviolette gave Filip Forsberg the night off and replaced him with
the Finn who set the KHL scoring record for an 18-year-old with Jokerit before
being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
Pominville started the scoring 43 seconds in. Nashville led 2-1 at the end of the first with Subban scoring on a slap shot that deflected off Sabres
defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at 2:59 for a rare Nashville power-play goal. The
Predators came into the game 3 of 49 on the man advantage since March 1.
Nashville led 2-1 at 17:00 of the first on Watson’s goal, and Turris made it 3-1 a couple minutes into the second.
O’Reilly scored at 5:45 of the second on the power play, and Okposo tied it up at 3 with a wrister from the slot off a rebound at 7:20. The Predators took a
4-3 lead at 12:50 when Bonino hopped over Johnson’s left leg and backhanded the
puck into the net. Buffalo lots its challenge for goaltender interference with
Johnson on his belly in the crease.
Reinhart got his hat trick at 11:43 of the third. Buffalo finished 4 of 9 on the power play.
”We came out flat the whole 60 minutes,” Nashville captain Roman Josi said. ”We never played up to our potential, and it just wasn’t good enough.”
NOTES: Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson, Nashville’s leading goal scorer, played only 43 seconds of the second before going to the locker room to stay.
The Predators had no update on his status after the game. … Eichel had Buffalo’s
first five-point game since Thomas Vanek on Jan. 31, 2013, at Boston. Eichel now
has 102 career assists. … Fisher played in his 1,100th career NHL game.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Visit Toronto on Monday night.
Predators: Visit Tampa Bay on Sunday.
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Derrick Johnson has been the enemy in Oakland for 13 years
Radek Faksa Jersey , tormenting the Raiders while wearing red for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Johnson has traded sides in the fierce AFC West rivalry, joining the Raiders as the veteran anchor at middle linebacker in a defense that is being rebuilt
this offseason.
”It was different, I don’t want to say weird, but it’s different to put on the silver and black – even shirt – because we haven’t put on jerseys and
helmets and all of that stuff yet,” Johnson said Wednesday. ”Even to put on the
shirt, it was different for me. But you know what, when we got in the middle of
the field, when you talk ball and you start running around, tossing the football
around and calling plays and going over backs, I’m very familiar to that. So,
that went out of my mind really fast.”
Johnson has been one of the better linebackers in the league during his career but was allowed to leave Kansas City earlier this offseason as the team
tried to get younger. The 35-year-old Johnson is a four-time Pro Bowler and the
career tackles leader for the Chiefs.
He had options about where to play this year but ultimately opted to join the Raiders, where he will take over the spot at middle linebacker that NaVorro
Bowman held after joining Oakland midway through last season.
Johnson said the enthusiasm of coach Jon Gruden and the linebacker-friendly scheme of coordinator Paul Guenther were what made his decision to sign with the
Raiders.
”The main reason I’m still playing ball and chasing a championship ring just because I believe I have a lot left in the tank
Mikael Granlund Jersey ,” he said. ”That’s the only reason I’m back. When I get to a point where I’m like, man, I’m hanging on, I’ll get out, I’ll get out
of the NFL. But right now, and I expressed this to Coach Gruden, I wasn’t
interested in some type of rebuilding atmosphere. As soon as I said that, he had
that look in his eye like, you’re talking about the sense of urgency to win.
That’s exactly right.”
Johnson has appeared in 182 games with 169 starts since being drafted in the first round in 2005. He piled up 1,262 tackles to easily shatter the Chiefs
franchise record, had 27 sacks and picked off 14 passes, returning four of them
for touchdowns.
He had a career-best 179 tackles in 2011
Scottie Upshall Jersey , when he was voted the Chiefs’ team MVP.
Johnson accumulated his impressive stats despite missing part of two seasons with ruptured Achilles tendons. He returned from the first one as good as ever,
earning his most recent Pro Bowl trip in 2015, but the second seemed to finally
take a step out of his legs last season.
Johnson said he feels much healthier now than he did at this time a year ago.
”This offseason I was working out and I was like, man, it’s a lot different from last year coming off an injury,” he said. ”My burst is back, it’s better
than ever and it’s a good feeling because it’s going to help me make plays, it’s
going to help me be explosive, and the longer you’re out from your season-ending
injury, it usually gets better and it helps you out mentally. This will be my
second season out from my last Achilles injury. I was healthy last year. I’m
even better this year because I got a really good offseason training that I
really didn’t get to do last year because I was coming off of the injury.”
The Raiders need an anchor in the middle of their defense. Bowman fared well in that role after being signed last October following his release by San
Francisco. There was interest in bringing him back for a second season but the
two sides couldn’t agree on a price.
Oakland didn’t address that need at linebacker in this year’s draft until the sixth round with the pick of Washington linebacker Azeem Victor.
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