Noah Ostlund scored twice, and Peyton Krebs had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (27-17-5), who were 0-1-1 in their previous two games. Alex Lyon, who returned from a lower-body injury, made 31 saves in his first game since Dec. 29.
“It felt pretty good,” Lyon said. “Maybe kind of a nice way to get into the game. Obviously, we started off so hot. Credit to [Helenius, Ostlund and Zach Benson], their line was really humming at the start. I’ve been in this building before, and when those guys turn it on and get going, it’s always a sight to behold. They certainly turned the afterburners on tonight. They really sent it at the end, but we hunkered in. That’s just what good teams do.”
Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and an assist, and Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists for the Predators (23-22-4), who have lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 16-24, when they lost three in a row.
Juuse Saros was pulled on the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Justus Annunen made 13 saves in relief.
“We didn’t move, we didn’t work, we didn’t compete,” Forsberg said of Nashville’s play in the first period. “They were faster, stronger, they won puck battles. It was pretty simple. We had a choice to make going into the second. It was either quit or actually start trying. I thought we did a great job of that the rest of the game and dominated and pushed hard until the end. But you go down 4-0 in this league, it’s certainly not looking bright for you. I think a huge lesson for us to learn with that start.”
Ostlund gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 8:11 of the first period, scoring on the rebound of a shot from Rasmus Dahlin that deflected off of Helenius. It was Helenius’ first NHL point.
