Buffalo, New York: Sabres Shut Out Sharks 2 to 0 in San Jose as Colten Ellis Records His Second Career Shutout

The Buffalo Sabres ended a three game winless run on Tuesday night with a 2 to 0 win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, behind 23 saves from goaltender Colten Ellis.

The shutout was the first of the season for Ellis and the second of his NHL career, according to NHL.com and Reuters. It came in his first appearance since October 12 against the Florida Panthers, when he was pulled early in the second period after giving up two goals on nine shots. His only previous shutout came on April 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

How the goals came

After a scoreless first period in which Buffalo held a 16 to 12 edge in shots, defenseman Olen Zellweger gave the Sabres a 1 to 0 lead just 50 seconds into the second period. Zellweger raced into the offensive zone on the left wing and his wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov on the blocker side. Konsta Helenius and Owen Power assisted on the goal, according to the official scoring summary published by the Sabres.

Buffalo outshot San Jose 14 to 4 in the second period. Ellis preserved the lead late in the period with a point blank pad save on Collin Graf, and he stopped Kiefer Sherwood from the slot with 4 minutes and 1 second remaining in the third period, the Sabres said.

Zach Benson sealed the win at 19 minutes and 5 seconds of the third period. Benson outmuscled Sharks forward Ivar Stenberg and scored into the empty net for the 2 to 0 final. It was Benson's first goal of the season.

Numbers from the night

Askarov made 38 saves for San Jose in the loss. Buffalo took a season high 40 shots and blocked a season high 20 shots, including four each from Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power, according to the Sabres.

The Sabres improved to 5 wins, 4 losses and 3 overtime losses. They had gone 0, 1 and 2 during their three game skid and had lost six of their past eight games. The Sharks fell to 6 wins, 6 losses and 1 overtime loss and have lost two games in a row.

Tage Thompson played his 500th career game with Buffalo in the win, NHL.com reported. San Jose defenseman Michael Kesselring played his first game against his former team. Kesselring was acquired from the Sabres on June 17, along with a first round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, for the 20th overall pick in the draft, NHL.com reported.

Buffalo is halfway through a four game road trip and has collected three of four possible points so far on the trip, according to the Sabres. The trip continues against the two remaining California teams.