ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

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BUFFALO -- A third-period goal by Ryan O'Reilly gave the Buffalo Sabres an opportunity to win their fourth straight game Saturday night but Patrick Marleau and the San Jose Sharks had other plans.

Marleau's overtime goal at 2:59 assured the Sharks a 2-1 victory, but the Sabres still have points in four straight games for the first time in nearly a year.

The Sharks started the scoring with a power play goal by Marc-Edouard Vlasic just 1:48 into the first period. Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns assisted.

Ryan's third-period goal came at 6:27, assisted by Rasmus Ristolainen and Josh Gorges, setting up the overtime, where Marleau's goal was asssisted by Vlasic and Tomas Hertl.

Chad Johnson stopped 30 of 32 shots on the night.

With the overtime loss, the Sabres record now stands at 8-8-1. They next play Tuesday when Lindy Ruff and the Dallas Stars visit the First Niagara Center.

NOTES:

• With tonight's overtime loss, the Sabres have extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1) for the first time since Dec. 9 to 15, 2014 (4-0-0).
• The Sabres fell to 22-6-6 all-time against the Sharks, including a 16-1-1 record at home.
• San Jose's win tonight snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Sabers and was the team's win in Buffalo in franchise history (last: Dec. 2, 2005).
• Chad Johnson had stopped 70 consecutive even-strength shots before allowing the game-winning goal in overtime. His career-best streak without allowing an even-strength ended at 191:51.
• With his assist on Ryan O'Reilly's goal, Rasmus Ristolainen has matched his career-best four-game point streak (3+3), which was set from March 26 to April 3, 2015.
• Ristolainen led all Sabres skaters with a career-high 29:01 of ice time tonight. He is now averaging 24:24 per game this season.

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