James Reimer stops 33 shots as Sabres blank Hurricanes

James Reimer made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and the 31st of his career in the host Buffalo Sabres’ 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for the Sabres (35-36-6, 76 points), who won their fifth straight game. Reimer also won his career-high seventh in a row.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 15 shots for the Hurricanes (46-27-4, 96 points), who lost their third in a row.
Buffalo scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead.
Thompson opened the scoring 1:32 into the middle period when he snapped home a shot from the top of the right circle off the rush after stealing the puck from Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin at the Sabres’ blue line. It was Thompson’s 44th goal and eighth in five games.
Tuch collected a short-handed goal to make it 2-0 with 3:15 left in the second. He scored on a breakaway as he fought off Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns for his 34th of the season, his NHL-leading sixth short-handed tally and seventh goal in seven games.
At 1:58 of the third period, Peterka completed a two-on-one from the bottom of the right circle after a turnover by Carolina’s Taylor Hall in his own zone.
Despite being outshot 12-5 in the first period, the Sabres had a few chances.
Kochetkov made a good save on a backhand shot by Jason Zucker, who walked from behind the net 1:36 into the game.
Kochetkov then denied Ryan McLeod on a short breakaway off a two-on-one rush a little more than three minutes into the contest. McLeod then caught up to a loose puck and was able to get around the Carolina goaltender but slid a backhand shot wide from a sharp angle with 7:40 left in the opening period.
Finally, on another two-on-one, Jack Quinn tipped a pass well over the net with 7:04 remaining in the first.
Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi did not play after leaving Carolina’s Saturday game against the Boston Bruins with a lower-body injury.