NEW YORK — Ryan O’Reilly scored two first-period goals in a 2:52 span and the Buffalo Sabres put a hold on the New York Rangers‘ hopes of clinching a playoff berth with a 4-3 victory Saturday night.
Zamgus Girgensons and Matt Moulson also scored on a night the Sabres sent Henrik Lundqvist to the bench in less than 21 minutes and had the sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden booing several times.
Chad Johnson had 33 saves and Buffalo killed off a late two-man disadvantage in improving to 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, and snapping a nine-game losing streak against the Rangers dating to April 2013.
Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Derek Stepan scored for the error-prone Rangers, who have lost two straight games that would have gotten them in the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
