National Hockey League
Vancouver 4, Buffalo 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, October 20, 2017
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Referees: Jake Brenk, Frederic L'Ecuyer
Linesmen: Steve Miller, Kory Nagy
Attendance: 18050

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jake Virtanen didn't watch a replay of Vancouver's game-winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, and he doesn't plan on watching it anytime soon.

"I didn't take a look up at the video but we'll take any of those any day for sure," Virtanen said with a smile.

Virtanen helped lead the Canucks to a 4-2 road win -- which included some controversy.

On the game-winning goal, Virtanen brought the puck over the blue line before finding Henrik Sedin to his right. Henrik Sedin then found his brother Daniel going hard to the net, who finished a bouncing puck to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead.

The Sabres challenged the goal, which looked like it may be overturned based on Virtanen's zone entry. After a lengthy review, the call stood as officials deemed that Virtanen had possession of the puck before crossing the line.

"I disagree with the call totally," Sabres head coach Phil Housley said. "In my opinion, he knocks the puck out of the air. He never has possession. If you call that possession, it's a different answer or explanation that they give me. I call it 10 out of 10 times offside."

Virtanen had a different opinion.

"I remember hitting it down and I did have control of it," Virtanen said. "They made the call so we're happy with it."

The call went Vancouver's way, which was fitting given its performance on the night. The Canucks dominated the Sabres throughout, outshooting Buffalo 41-22.

Derek Dorsett had two goals and an assist and Markus Granlund also scored for Vancouver (3-3-1), which bounced back from a 6-3 loss to Boston on Thursday. Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves.

"I thought it was a real good hockey game by our group," Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. "After playing a tough game last night, the way we responded I was real happy for our team."

Justin Bailey and Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo (1-5-2), which had yet another disappointing performance. Chad Johnson made 37 saves.

"It was gross," Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo said. "That was gross. We didn't come out ready to play. It was what we had stressed, what we had talked about. We didn't do it."

Bailey opened the scoring one minute into the game following a terrific feed by Ryan O'Reilly. O'Reilly spun along the boards and fired a pass to Bailey in front of the Vancouver net, and Bailey lifted a backhand shot for his second goal of the season.

Granlund evened the score with 8:04 left in the first. Following an initial stop by Johnson, Granlund put the rebound off the left post and in to make it 1-1.

Even with the Sabres badly outshot in the first -- Vancouver held a 17-5 edge in shots -- Eichel made it 2-1 before the end of the period on a terrific one-man effort. Eichel took the puck all the way from his own end and put the puck through Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton's legs before beating Markstrom with a wrist shot with 2:40 left in the first.

The Canucks continued to pepper the Sabres with shots in the second and it eventually paid off on the scoreboard.

Dorsett made it 2-2 with a short-handed goal 5:52 into the period. It was the sixth short-handed goal surrendered by the Sabres in eight games.

Sedin's game-winner came 8:10 into the second as the veteran was rewarded for going hard to the net.

Dorsett added an empty-net goal with 21.7 seconds remaining.

"Our penalty kill let us down last night and today our penalty kill bounced back and did a pretty good job," Dorsett said. "We'll take points as we can get 'em."

NOTES: C Zemgus Girgensons, D Josh Gorges and D Taylor Fedun were scratched for the Sabres. Girgensons was out after suffering a lower-body injury in the team's loss on Tuesday to the Vegas Golden Knights. ... D Patrick Wiercioch, D Erik Gudbranson and C Michael Chaput were scratched for the Canucks. ... This was Sabres RW Kyle Okposo's 600th career game. ... This was the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. The second and final meeting takes place on Jan. 25 in Vancouver. ... Canucks LW Thomas Vanek played in eight seasons for the Sabres from 2005-13 after being selected fifth overall in 2003.
Top Game Performances
 
Vancouver   Buffalo
Derek Dorsett 3 Points Justin Bailey 1
Derek Dorsett 2 Goals Justin Bailey 1
Brandon Sutter 2 Assists Ryan O'Reilly 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
Derek Dorsett 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Jacob Markstrom .909 Save Percentage Chad Johnson .925
Jacob Markstrom 20 Saves Chad Johnson 37
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vancouver 41 4 0-4 3-3 6 33
Buffalo 22 2 0-3 4-4 8 33
Upcoming Games
  • Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Sabres have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .143 after a loss.
  • Vancouver will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Canucks have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .500 after a loss.