Sabres takeaways: Emotions everywhere after tough penalties, late comeback and an OT loss to Canucks
Bowen Byram after the Sabres came back from a 3-1 deficit to salvage a point: "It's still a disappointing loss. I thought we played pretty well but at the end of the day when you don't get two points, it's not a success."
The emotions were flying everywhere early Friday evening in KeyBank Center.
The Buffalo Sabres were frustrated but still found some pride in the result. On an individual level, Dylan Cozens went from apoplectic to relieved in about 10 minutes.
The Vancouver Canucks had to be relieved and jubilant as goalie Kevin Lankinen earned a slice of NHL history.
In the NHL world of three-point games, such was the aftermath of Vancouver's 4-3 overtime win before a crowd of 18,059. The Canucks got their second point on a wild sequence that saw Lankinen stop Tage Thompson all alone on a backhand at the edge of the crease, and Conor Garland then tip home a Quinn Hughes pass 30 seconds later for the winning goal at 3:59 of OT.
Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens (24) handles the puck in front of the net against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) and defenseman Carson Soucy (7) during the third period
at KeyBank Center on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Joed Viera/Buffalo News
Lankinen improved to 9-0 on the road this season, tying the league record for best start away from home set by Montreal's Glenn Hall in 1965 and equaled by Los Angeles' Cam Talbot last season.
The Sabres outshot Vancouver, 34-22, and the count was 18-6 in the third period. Lankinen held firm, making 31 saves.
"It's good to get a point out of the game obviously," said Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram, who tipped home a Zach Benson pass for Buffalo's first goal. "You want to come away with two much as much as possible. It's still a disappointing loss. I thought we played pretty well but at the end of the day when you don't get two points, it's not a success."
The game was tied 1-1 through 40 minutes but the Canucks built a 3-1 lead on Garland's power play goal at 5:15 and Pius Suter's breakaway tally at 9:00. The Garland goal came with Cozens in the box for a relatively chintzy holding penalty and then two additional minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"We played with desperation. It's on me taking that penalty and putting us in that situation but the boys battled back and we got a point," Cozens said. " ... I've got to keep my cool there. It's on me. I hurt the team it cost us there."
"We discussed it on the bench. He knows how I feel," said coach Lindy Ruff. "He knows he can't do it. He'd be the first guy to take ownership. I did say the only way you can make amends is to get one back. We need to grow as a team. I've said you've got to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Sometimes you don't like the call but you've got to keep your composure. ... There's times in the game you just have to show a lot of self restraint."
Cozens tallied on a wrist shot from the right circle at 13:18 to get Buffalo within 3-2 and the Sabres tied the game at 14:57 when Alex Tuch tipped home a Zach Benson shot from the right point.
"We played with desperation and that's what this team has," Cozens said. "We don't have any quite and we're going to battle till the last buzzer, just keep fighting until the game's over."
Here are some more takeaways from the wild affair:
1. OT keepaway
The Sabres hardly touched the puck in the first 2½ minutes of OT and the crowd let out a big cheer when they finally got possession. The Canucks never got a shot on goal until they actually scored but they confounded Buffalo in keeping possession, with Hughes being the catalyst to the attack."He's a hard guy to chase around, for sure," Ruff said of Hughes, last season's Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman. "World class skater cutting back on his edges. ... We had the great look. We got the right look. JJ (Peterka), heck of a play to Thompson. You got to give their goalie a lot of credit. He made a heck of a save on the play. And then they go the other way."
"He's an unbelievable player," Cozens said of Hughes. "They played the possession game well. They just kept rolling over their lines and they didn't give us chances."
2. Tage's troubles
The save in OT was merely the last of Thompson's good chances that didn't find the net. After missing five games with a lower-body injury, he's been held scoreless in his first two games back – despite getting six shots on goal in each one."I thought he could have had two or three (goals) tonight where he was shooting from," Ruff said. "Coming back off injury, sometimes it takes a game or two, but obviously we need our best guys to get on the scoresheet, or you end up in games like this."
3. Injury/roster updates
The Sabres headed for the Big Apple after the game to meet the New York Islanders Saturday night in UBS Arena. They then host Colorado and former Sabre Casey Mittelstadt on Tuesday in the opener of a five-game homestand that also includes games against Winnipeg, Utah, Detroit and the New York Rangers.Forward Sam Lafferty suffered a lower-body injury in the second period and only played a shade over four minutes in the game. Ruff acknowledged Lafferty won't play Saturday and the Sabres recalled forward Tyson Kozak from Rochester to make his NHL debut.
Kozak, a seventh-round pick in 2021, is in his third season in Rochester and as five goals and one assist in 14 games this year for the Amerks.
Ruff also said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, out since Nov. 11 with a lower-body injury and listed as week to week, skated earlier Friday for the first time since the injury.