Gritsyuk made it 2-0 at 7:45 of the second period when he collected a loose puck in the slot and beat Lyon under his right arm.
“I thought there was a lot of energy on the bench, and I thought our team was playing well,” Sabres center Tage Thompson said. “I thought we controlled the first two periods pretty handily. Obviously, the score didn’t indicate that, but I thought we had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities.”
“I think whatever energy or whatever momentum we did kind of have early in the game kind of got snuffed out by their goalie, who was playing a [heck] of a game. It’s frustrating when you’re getting chances and looks and they’re not going in, especially when you feel like they should.”
Dillon’s one-timer from the top of the left circle went bar down to push it to 3-0 at 1:39 of the third period.
Cotter slipped a backhand by Lyon’s left pad on a breakaway to increase the lead to 4-0 at 5:22.
“I think we had a good understanding of what that period would look like,” Devils forward Connor Brown said. “I mean we knew that they had to force things. And with that, you know, we got a couple of breakaways, a couple of chances, a couple of looks and we’re able to grow our lead.”
Gritsyuk made it 5-0 at 16:49 when his wrist shot beat Lyon blocker side off a pass from Ondrej Palat on a 2-on-1.
“Everybody wants to score, and my job is to stop pucks and so that’s all I’m going to focus on,” Lyon said. “It’s important that everybody holds themselves accountable as well. We’ve got to continue to do the right things and continue to hammer on the details and just, it’ll turn around.”
NOTES: Allen’s 42 saves were the second most he’s made in a shutout. His career high is 45, reached twice (Oct. 28, 2021, and Nov. 7, 2015). … Hischier has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson left the game with 7:53 remaining in the third period after a hit from Meier. Ruff said he went into concussion protocol but did not have any further update.