For every player, the first goal in the NHL is memorable.
But let’s say that Zach Benson’s will be easy to remember for many fans as well because he was so impressive against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday in a 4-3 defeat of the Buffalo Sabres.
The young Sabers forward scored his first goal in the Bettman circuit in his ninth game following a magnificent fake in the first period. As he approached the net, he passed the disc between his legs which landed Darcy Kuemper on the ice and Benson skillfully lodged the disc in the upper part.
The 13th overall pick in the last draft already had four assists on his record since his NHL debut. His net at that time made it 2-0 Sabers since his teammate JJ Peterka had opened the scoring midway through the first period.
Before returning to the locker room, Alexander Alexeyev reduced the Sabres’ lead to one goal, also with his first career goal.
The two teams exchanged goals in the middle period through TJ Oshie and Dylan Cozens, so much so that the Sabers led 3-2 entering the final period.
Tom Wilson forced overtime by scoring his fourth goal of the campaign with only 75 seconds left in the period. Dylan Strome came to close the books with eight seconds remaining in overtime.
Strome beat Devon Levi with a good throw for the winning goal. The Sabers goaltender made 26 saves on 30 shots. For his part, Kuemper faced 27 shots.
Lafrenière and Quick do the job
Alexis Lafrenière scored the only goal of the game and Jonathan Quick signed a shutout in a 1-0 victory for the New York Rangers over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
There was just five minutes to play when Mika Zibanejad caused a turnover in the neutral zone and allowed Lafrenière to go alone in front of Tristan Jarry. The Quebecer thwarted the Penguins goaltender with a backhand feint and placing the disc in the top corner for his eighth goal of the campaign.
He was the only one to beat Jarry who finished his evening of work with 35 saves.
Quick, for his part, was perfect on 32 shots to earn his second shutout of the season. It was also the 60th shutout of his career. He has now signed five wins in seven games in his debut with the Rangers.
Quick also shut out his rivals on October 26, in a victory against the Edmonton Oilers.
Not a busy evening for Lyon
Alex Lyon made 16 saves, Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-0.
Lyon was making his second NHL start this season and recorded his second career shutout in the Bettman League.
Fabbri capped a three-goal spurt in a 1:12 span late in the first period for the Red Wings, who were back at home after participating in the NHL Overall Series in Sweden.
Lucas Raymond scored in his fourth straight game, while Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored for the Red Wings. Daniel Sprong collected two assists.
The Devils were shut out for the first time this season. Vitek Vanecek stopped 24 shots.
Raymond got the ball rolling late in the first period, shooting over Vanecek’s right shoulder after a pass from Fabbri during a two-on-one attack.
Larkin, who had 25 points in 21 career games against the Devils, scored on the backhand 20 seconds later. Fabbri widened the gap to 3-0 by beating Vanecek on the mitt side.
Seider added a power play goal midway through the second period. Before this goal, the Red Wings had taken advantage of only two of their last 41 power play opportunities.
The Red Wings are 9-0-2 when scoring four or more goals in a game this season.
Bruins overthrow Panthers
Linus Ullmark made 27 saves and the Boston Bruins extended their point streak to seven with a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
Charlie Coyle, John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk each found the back of the net for the Bruins who posted five victories during their current streak. David Pastrnak, however, was left off the scoresheet for the first time in his last eight games.
Anton Lundell was the only Panthers player to rock the ropes. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 pucks in the defeat.
Ullmark particularly stood out in the first period with 15 saves to his name. The Panthers had won their previous six games at home.
