Buffalo Sabres at Edmonton Oilers

Nugent-Hopkins scores twice as the Oilers beat the Sabres 3-2

Edmonton improved to 21-6-1 in its last 28 games. It also moved into first place in the Pacific Division, one point up on the idle Vegas Golden Knights.

The Oilers (31-15-3) played without captain Connor McDavid, who completed his three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver’s Conor Garland a week ago.

Jeff Skinner also scored for Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner stopped 39 shots.

Alex Tuch and Jiri Kulich scored for the Sabres (18-26-5), who lost for the fourth time in five games. James Reimer recorded 31 saves.

Takeaways Sabres: It was Reimer's first start since Jan. 4. He came into the game with a 1-5-1 record this season.

Oilers: Leon Draisaitl was held pointless, ending a couple of streaks. His overall points streak ended at eight games, and his home points streak was halted at 17 games.

Key moment Buffalo appeared to tie the game with 3:43 to play, but it was determined that Kulich kicked the puck into the net.

Key stat The Sabres went 0 for 3 on the power play, and the Oilers were 0 for 1 with the man advantage.

Up next Buffalo opens a four-game homestand on Tuesday night against Boston. Edmonton hosts Seattle on Monday night.

EDM leads series 1-0