National Hockey League
Arizona 5, Buffalo 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 29, 2020
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Referees: Steve Kozari, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen: Travis Gawryletz, Andrew Smith
Attendance: 17125

Clayton Keller's two goals, and a goal and assist from Jordan Oesterle, led the Arizona Coyotes to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz.

Keller had a goal and an assist in Arizona's three-goal second period, which came after the Coyotes trailed 2-0 through the first. He added his next goal at 13:59 of the final period.

Phil Kessel also scored for the Coyotes, who have won two of three and remain just out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Sabres, despite early goals from Marcus Johansson and Jeff Skinner, have lost the first three games of a four-game Western Conference road trip.

Antti Raanta made 25 saves for the Coyotes, while Jonas Johansson stopped 26 shots for Buffalo.

Keller's individual effort gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead at 7:30 of the second period. His first shot hit a post, and Keller got to the rebound and fired into the net from close range for his 16th goal of the season.

The Sabres, with help from their two most recent acquisitions, scored twice in 44 seconds early in the first period. Johansson was the recipient of a pass from Dominik Kahun, scoring his eighth goal of the season at 7:59.

Kahun beat two Coyotes to the puck and took it away from Arizona's Ilya Lyubushkin to set up Johansson.

Seconds later, Wayne Simmonds skated in with the puck, eluded defenders and found space, and tried a high backhander that glanced of Skinner's stick and got past Raanta at 8:43.

Simmonds and Kahun were picked up in separate trades on Feb. 24.

Arizona cut the Buffalo lead to 2-1 at 2:20 of the second period. Keller's pinpoint pass from behind the center of the net found Oesterle for his third goal of the season.

The Coyotes struck again just 53 seconds later to tie it at 2. Kessel was at the net to gather in and stuff home Alex Goligoski's shot that took a couple of deflections.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored into an empty net from the red line in the Coyotes zone with 20 seconds left in the game.

The win for Arizona was Rick Tocchet's 100th as Coyotes head coach.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   Arizona
Marcus Johansson 1 Points Clayton Keller 3
Marcus Johansson 1 Goals Clayton Keller 2
Dominik Kahun 1 Assists Clayton Keller 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1
Jonas Johansson .867 Save Percentage Antti Raanta .926
Jonas Johansson 26 Saves Antti Raanta 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Buffalo 27 2 0-2 2-2 4 27
Arizona 31 5 0-2 2-2 4 23
Upcoming Games
  • Arizona will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .387 after a win and .556 after a loss.
  • Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Sabres have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .429 after a loss.