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Sabres at Devils recap: Elias scores his 1000th point, Sabres lose for what feels like the 1000th time

The New Jersey Devils scored three times in the first period, forcing a critical hit from which the Buffalo Sabres couldn’t recover from en route to a 4-1 win last night.

The big story during the game was Patrik Elias scoring his 1000th career point thanks to his goal and two assists, but the more localized story was another poor first period that saw the Sabres down 3-0 after one.

Mikhail Grigorenko scored his first career power play goal in the second period, but the Sabres would manage only 21 shots during the game, and cimply couldn’t find the back of the net despite some nice chances and a post by Phil Varone, who played well but seemed snake bitten when it came to finding the back of the net.

Jhonas Enroth was fine in net, making 24 saves, but the Sabres managed to give up a shorthanded goal, and let the Devils jump out to the early lead with Elias’ goal barely four minutes into the game.

The Sabres, losers of five straight, will play against the lowly Hurricanes on Thursday in an important four-point game for the McEichel race.

Three Questions

1. How will Tyler Myers look in his return?

Myers was one of only three Sabres palyers to crack 20 minutes of ice time tonight in what was a balanced attack from Ted Nolan, but was a -2 with no shots on the evening. He looked fine, but didn’t quite solidify the defense like we would have hoped.

2. Will Mikhail Grigorenko take advantage of his promotion to the second line?

He scored the team’s only goal, so yes.

3. How will the Rochester call ups perform?

Phil Varone said in the post game that he could have had four goals tonight, and he wasn’t too far off. Varone hit the post, missed an odd man rush, and recorded a team-high five shots, so it was a very nice season debut for the career AHLer. Schaller went largely unnoticed on the fourth line.

Highlights