Owen Power scored the first goal of his NHL career to help put the New Jersey Devils away in a 5-2 Buffalo Sabres victory Thursday night at Prudential Center.
The 19-year-old rookie defenseman, who was the first-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, now has a goal and an assist through five games played.
Kyle Okposo, Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin and Jeff Skinner also scored. Okposo and Tuch’s goals came on the same penalty kill during the first period.
Victor Olofsson recorded a career-high three assists and Tage Thompson had a pair of helpers.
Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots.
Jesper Boqvist and Nikita Okhotiuk scored for the Devils. Andrew Hammond mad 23 saves.
Buffalo’s power play was 0-for-1, but the penalty kill was 4-for-4 with those two shorthanded goals.
The Sabres have won three in a row and four of their last five.
How it happened
Video: BUF@NJD: Okposo fires shot that dips in for a SHG
Okposo put Buffalo on the board first with 8:07 remaining in the second period when he fired a shot from outside the Devils blue line that found its way into the back of the net.
Video: BUF@NJD: Tuch puts a rebound into the net for a SHG
On the same penalty kill just 47 seconds later, Tuch put home a rebound on an Olofsson chance, throwing the puck on net and beating a falling Hammond to make it 2-0.
Video: BUF@NJD: Dahlin fires a shot that deflects off skate
Dahlin was credited with Buffalo’s third goal of the game with 2:02 left in the second when his shot deflected in off the skate of Dawson Mercer.
New Jersey on the board with 7.2 seconds left thanks to Boqvist.
The Devils then got within one when stepped into a one-timer to beat Anderson for the first goal of his NHL career.
Power scored to make it 4-2 at the 8:33 mark of the third. Thompson hit Skinner with a stretch pass and Skinner fell after getting tangled up with a Devils defender just inside the blue line. As he was getting up, Skinner was able to shovel the puck to Power, who jumped into the play and slipped the puck five hole.
Video: BUF@NJD: Skinner roofs a pass in tight to extend lead
Skinner added another one for the Sabres when he raced in and redirected a pass from Thompson top shelf.
Roll the highlight film
Here’s Power’s goal, one he’ll never forget:
Video: BUF@NJD: Power nets a slick pass from Skinner for 1st
Worthy of a mention
• Buffalo scored two shorthanded goals during the same penalty tonight for the fifth time in franchise history and for the first time since Brandon Montour scored twice during the same penalty on March 31, 2021.
• Dahlin recorded an assist on Okposo’s goal and became the ninth defenseman in franchise history to post at least 40 assists in a season. It’s happened 19 times in franchise history, most recently in 2006-07 when Brian Campbell hit that milestone.
Coming up
The Sabres will return home to face the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Saturday. Faceoff is set for 12:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
Pregame coverage on MSG begins at noon.