Gionta, Sabres top Sharks in snowy Buffalo

Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Six feet of lake-effect snow in the Buffalo region was not enough to keep the Sabres from continuing their home dominance against the Sharks.

Brian Gionta scored twice to lead Buffalo to a 4-1 victory over San Jose at First Niagara Center on Tuesday.

Brian Flynn tallied a goal and an assist and Nicolas Deslauriers also scored for the Sabres, who improved to 16-1-0 all-time at home against the Sharks.

"We didn't let our emotions get away from us and lose the game," Gionta said of his team's composure.

Jhonas Enroth turned aside 19 shots in relief of Michal Neuvirth, who departed with a lower-body injury after the first period. Neuvirth stopped all 10 shots he faced.

Brent Burns provided San Jose with its lone marker and Troy Grosenick, who was coming off a 45-save shutout of Carolina in his NHL debut on Sunday, allowed three goals on 13 shots in defeat.

"We had a lot of good chances, especially early in the game," Sharks forward Patrick Marleau said. "The chances were there."

Buffalo went ahead 2-1 after Flynn flipped a pass up to Gionta, who beat Grosenick with a far-side snap shot from the right circle at 11:54 of the second period.

Buffalo increased its lead to 3-1 with 12 seconds to play in the middle stanza. Gionta sent a cross-ice feed to Flynn, who finished off the 2-on-1 with a well-placed wrister.

With 4:44 remaining in regulation, Marleau appeared to pull the Sharks within 3-2, but the goal was overturned after further review showed that there was insufficient evidence that the puck fully crossed the goal line.

San Jose pulled Grosenick with two minutes to play, but Gionta ended any hopes of a Sharks comeback with an empty-net tally.

Each team had a goal disallowed in the first period. Zemgus Girgensons appeared to score with just over seven minutes to play in the first, but Tyler Ennis crashed into the San Jose netminder.

The Sharks also had a short-handed tally called off after Justin Braun made contact with Neuvirth in the crease with under three minutes to play.

Cody McCormick's shot from the left side was blocked by a San Jose defender but Deslauriers was there to wrist the puck past Grosenick for a 1-0 lead 5:25 into the middle frame.

Burns blasted a shot from the high slot over the left shoulder of a screened Enroth for a power-play equalizer midway through the second.

Game Notes

Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta was a healthy scratch due to being snowed in at his house ... San Jose's only victory in Buffalo came on Dec. 2, 2005 ... Sharks forward Joe Thornton extended his point streak to seven games with an assist on Burns' goal ... Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers registered his 100th career assist on Gionta's first goal ... Sabres assistant coach and retired NHL netminder, Arturs Irbe, 47, served as the team's emergency backup goaltender.