After Sabres winger Evander Kane tied the game with 29 seconds remaining in regulation, Ristolainen pushed the game into the win column after he fired a laser beam past Edmonton Oilers netminder Cam Talbot.
With the victory, the Sabres record improved to 10-10-6.
The Edmonton Oilers are starting to get some increased production from their $42-million man.
Milan Lucic buried his eighth goal of the season - and 11th point in his last nine games - Tuesday in Buffalo, created by a perfect pass from Connor McDavid.
Generally speaking, scoring mass amounts of goals will thrust you into superstardom, but for whatever reason, that hasn't been the case for Wayne Simmonds.
The Philadelphia Flyers winger has emerged into one of the finest power forwards the NHL has to offer. He's finding the back of the net at an elite rate, yet no one seems to bat an eye.
Counting Tuesday's two markers versus the Florida Panthers - his 14th and 15th of the season - Simmonds has scored 104 goals since 2013-14. That's the 11th-highest total of all NHLers.
He's not exactly trailing a bunch of chumps, either.
Rank*
Player
Team
Games
Goals
6
Corey Perry
Ducks
256
114
7
Max Pacioretty
Canadiens
260
113
8
Steven Stamkos
Lightning
213
113
9
Vladimir Tarasenko
Blues
246
111
10
Patrick Kane
Blackhawks
239
110
11
Wayne Simmonds
Flyers
266
104
*Alexander Ovechkin, Joe Pavelski, Jamie Benn, Sidney Crosby, and Tyler Seguin rank 1-5.
In three previous seasons, Simmonds notched 29, 28, and a career-high 32 goals, respectively. With 15 in 28 games so far, he's well on pace to eclipse the 30-goal mark again.
Entering Tuesday, Simmonds was shooting a staggering 19.1 percent on the season. His efficiency is due to regress, but considering his above-average career shooting percentage of 14.5, it's difficult pass his production this campaign off as a mere fluke.
Simmonds' $3.975-million cap hit further illustrates how underrated he truly is, but rather than marvel at how stealthily he ranks among the league's best scorers and eases the Flyers' books, maybe it's time to recognize one of the game's finest producers.
With starter Jonathan Quick still out long term, and replacement Peter Budaj carrying the brunt of the workload, Los Angeles is exploring its options, with Ramo being one of them.
Ramo has yet to play a game since tearing his ACL last season, and despite the Leafs having the "inside track," the 30-year-old remains open to sign with any team as an unrestricted free agent, reports LeBrun.
The San Jose Sharks center underwent a minor procedure Saturday to remove a bothersome screw from the repair work he had on his ankle last October.
"It was irritating when I put my skate on," Couture told Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area. "It wasn't anything structural, it was just from having the skate on that area and irritation was building up. (I) figured we had a little break here and could take it out, and hopefully it feels better."
Couture has appeared in all 25 games this season and hopes to be in the lineup Wednesday when the Sharks take on the Ottawa Senators.