Photo credit: AP

By Pearl Allison Lo

Red-hot Jeff Skinner kept Buffalo’s perfect streak alive in regulation when scoring first with the final say in their third 3-2 victory in a row, defeating the San Jose Sharks at First Niagara Center on Tuesday.

Goalie Martin Jones went out to poke the puck away from Rasmus Dahlin and Skinner pounced on the puck afterward. Jones swung his arm to the right and Skinner scored short side before Jones could move back all the way. Skinner’s goal came at 1:41. In his last 10 games, he has scored 10 goals and one assist, pointless in only one of those games.

The Sabres’ 10th straight win matched a franchise record as they remained on top of the NHL.

San Jose fell to 3-5 in overtime, while Buffalo moved to 7-2.

Meanwhile, the Sharks worked hard to secure a point after they were down 2-0 in the third.

San Jose outshot Buffalo 13-7 in the first and 17-11 in the third. The Sabres had all three shots in overtime.

The goal scorers in regulation were Sabres’ defensemen and Joe Pavelski.

After a scoreless first period, Rasmus Ristolainen struck at 14:42 of the second. Casey Nelson and Sam Reinhart strung the puck together smoothly to get it to Ristolainen, who moved the puck between his legs from right to left versus Brent Burns and buried the puck after moving across Jones. Ristolainen finished with a swaggy cowboy riding a horse celebration.

The Sharks kicked off the third (1:35) with a power play, during which they made three shots. Almost 40 seconds after it ended though, things went the other way as Nathan Beaulieu found himself free and fired a perfect pass from Reinhart top center.

San Jose, not to be counted out, got things going in the second half.

With a 4-versus-4 formation on ice, Pavelski won the faceoff, with the puck going to Timo Meier and then Burns. Burns this time passed between Vladimir Sobotka’s legs to find Pavelski, who rocketed the puck in at 11:20.

Pavelski’s second goal came after a minute on the power play. Kevin Labanc made a shot, and Pavelski followed the puck movement after Logan Couture recovered the puck from the boards. The Sharks’ captain then fished the puck behind the net and made a swift wraparound before goalie Carter Hutton was aware at 16:42. Pavelski led all players with seven shots on goal.

San Jose’s Evander Kane had a chance to win the match before overtime, which he described as a “tough one not to finish.”

Regarding the contest, Burns said, we ”had our chances. They ended up with one more.”

Up Next: During the game, a two minute high sticking penalty to the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon got taken back. San Jose’s five-game road trip rubber match arrives quickly in the form of the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday at 4:30 pm PT.