Colten Ellis made 23 saves for the Buffalo Sabres to earn his second career shutout in a 2-0 win against the host San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
It was Ellis’ first appearance since getting pulled early in the second period on Oct. 12 against the Florida Panthers, when he gave up two goals on nine shots. His lone previous shutout came on April 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets
Olen Zellweger and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres, who snapped a three-game skid (0-1-2). Owen Power assisted on both tallies.
Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for the Sharks, who have lost two in a row.
Zellweger put Buffalo up 1-0 early in the second period. Konsta Helenius took a feed from Power inside his own zone to the red line and dished it over to Zellweger. The smooth-skating defenseman carried it up the left wing before snapping it from the top of the circle inside the far post 50 seconds into the frame.
Benson scored an empty-net goal at 19:05 of the third period. He stole the puck from Ivar Stenberg in the San Jose zone and held off the rookie in a battle toward the net, swatting the puck in for his first of the season.
The two sides traded chances in the first period, with Buffalo edging San Jose 16-12 in shots on goal through 20 minutes.
Midway through the period, Askarov denied Jack Quinn with a chest save on a chance off the rush.
Late in the frame, Ellis got his blocker on a quick shot from Adam Gaudette from the slot on a power play. A minute and a half later, Askarov stopped Tage Thompson from the high slot and then sprawled to swallow up the rebound with Benson on the doorstep.
The Sabres outshot the Sharks 14-4 in the second period, but Ellis was sharp despite limited activity, including a stop on Collin Graf off a feed from Macklin Celebrini.
Late in the third, Ellis denied Kiefer Sherwood, closing the pads in time to hold off the forward’s shot from the slot.