Sabres explode in third period, zoom past Knights

Casey Mittelstadt scored two goals during a four-goal third-period and also had an assist as the Buffalo Sabres rallied for a 5-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night in Las Vegas.

Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson each had a goal and an assist and Devon Levi made 33 saves for Buffalo. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak and nine-game point streak for the Golden Knights.

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each scored for Vegas, while Logan Thompson finished with 22 saves.

Buffalo took a 1-0 lead at the 7:42 mark of the second period when Cozens fired a wrist shot from the high slot through the legs of Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Thompson's blocker side. It was the fifth goal of the season for Cozens and first in 12 games.

Cozens almost made it 2-0 on his next shift when he broke out for a breakaway but Thompson made a pad save on his wrist shot. A few minutes, Tuch fired a rebound over a wide-open net from in close.

Vegas then tied it 1-1 on a power-play goal by Barbashev who knocked in a rebound of a Nicolas Roy shot past Levi's blocker side at 13:44 of the second.

The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead early in the third period when Eichel snapped in a rebound of a Paul Cotter shot from the low slot for his 13th goal.

Buffalo tied it just 1:39 later on Mittelstadt's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle over Thompson's left shoulder.

The Sabres then scored twice in the span of 1:43 midway through the period to take a 4-2 lead. Benson scored the first goal on a backhand shot by the right post off a pass from Tuch. Tuch followed with his ninth goal after Benson intercepted a Barbashev outlet pass and fed Tuch alone in the slot, where rifled a wrist shot into the top right corner.

Vegas pulled Thompson for an extra attacker with 3:28 remaining, and Mittelstadt sealed the win with an empty-netter with 2:41 to go.

—Field Level Media