Sabres takeaways: JJ Peterka's injury looms large as Devils complete sweep in Prague
The Sabres’ shorthanded lineup scored first, but their mistakes allowed the Devils to roar back to take the lead and resulted in a 3-1 loss Saturday as they returned to Buffalo with a 0-2 record.
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JJ Peterka already passed the puck in the neutral zone Saturday at O2 arena when the Sabres winger was leveled to the ice.
Brenden Dillon, a defenseman on the New Jersey Devils’ top pair, led with his shoulder and finished a high hit.
The Sabres and Devils scuffle on Saturday in Prague. Buffalo managed just two goals in its first two games. Petr David Josek photos, Associated Press
Peterka covered his head as his teammate, Alex Tuch, challenged Dillon to a fight during the two teams’ final game in Prague. Dillon was initially assessed a five-minute penalty, but it was downgraded to a minor after a video review.
The damage was already done, though. Peterka, the Sabres’ top-line winger who scored 28 goals last season, was concussed and he wouldn’t return to the game. The power play wasn’t a consolation. He was the third forward they’d lost to an injury less than 48 hours into their season.
The Sabres managed to score first despite sending out a short-handed lineup, but a series of mistakes in the third period allowed the Devils to roar back and take the lead and caused Buffalo to head home with a 3-1 loss.
“When you’re in a game where you’re a little short-handed, you have to learn how not to lose and the play we made on the second goal is a play that from the offensive zone helps you lose a hockey game,” coach Lindy Ruff lamented after his team dropped to 0-2.
A turnover in the Sabres’ offensive zone gave the Devils a 2-on-1 rush that ended with Paul Cotter snapping the puck over Devon Levi’s blocker for a 2-1 lead 7:18 into the third period. Tage Thompson broke through for the first goal of the game, but the rebound he jammed past goalie Jake Allen was one of just 10 shots by Sabres forwards during the game.
Jordan Greenway, who moved to the top line after Peterka departed, led the group with four shots on goal. The Sabres had no shots on goal during their pair of power plays, and they’re 0-for-6 with the man advantage through two games.
The Devils (2-0), on the other hand, capitalized on a power play almost halfway through the second period when rookie defenseman Seamus Casey snapped a puck over Levi’s shoulder while the Sabres goalie was screened by teammate Henri Jokiharju.
Buffalo was outshot 37-18 and earned four fewer high-danger scoring chances (11-7) at 5-on-5 while Ruff was forced to juggle his lines. The power play was without Tuch for its first opportunity because he was in the penalty box for fighting Dillon and both units looked disjointed without Peterka and Zach Benson, the latter of whom was unavailable because of a lower-body injury that bothered him during Friday’s season-opening 4-1 loss.
“They didn’t make it easy on us getting shots to the net,” said Thompson. “They blocked shots and boxed out hard around the net. For the most part, one goal is not going to win you a game. … We’ve just got to find a way to score more.”
Buffalo needs to get these types of games to overtime more often. The extra point matters throughout an 82-game season. But a critical mistake allowed Cotter to give New Jersey the lead, then Timo Meier added a third goal for the Devils with 5:46 left to play.
There’s much to fix before the Sabres play host to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. Peterka’s availability is a question that looms, as is the health of Benson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who did not return Friday after suffering a lower-body injury. Jiri Kulich and Peyton Krebs drew into the lineup Saturday.
The Devils’ Paul Cotter scores against the Sabres’ Devon Levi. Petr David Josek, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuch repeated after the game that it’s important for the Sabres to not make too much of one or two losses. However, they can’t ignore the ugly start Friday, a power play that looks as bad as it did when Don Granato was in charge last season and an offense that produced two goals in two games against an opponent that also has a new coach.
“We’re going to find out more and more about the group,” said Ruff. “Dealing with adversity is something that can make your team a lot stronger. We’re going to deal with some adversity and obviously we’re not happy. We’ve had some struggles. We had some power-play units that got changed around with Peterka going out and we didn’t look very good on the power play again. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s something where you have to take this as a challenge right now.”
Here are other takeaways from the game:
1. Power play
Zone entries are a glaring issue.The Sabres don’t seem to know who to pass to once they’re approaching the blue line, and the Devils were determined to prevent them from entering the zone cleanly. The personnel is also uncertain given the injuries. Greenway, Krebs and Kulich had to fill in Saturday after none of the three practiced with the power-play unit this week.
The Devils’ power play was much more effective throughout the Global Series. They entered the zone, moved the puck and got bodies to the front of the net to make the job difficult for Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
“It’s really early in the season,” said Tuch. “We haven’t had enough reps in real games. … I think we had to support each other a little bit too and just be predictable for one another.”
2. Quality start
Levi was arguably the Sabres’ best player, delivering clutch saves and preventing the type of rebounds that gave Allen trouble in the second period.None of Levi’s saves were as impressive than the pad stop on Hughes during a 2-on-1 after Bowen Byram’s turnover near the offensive-zone blue line. The Sabres regained possession, then Thompson capitalized on a rebound for his first goal of the season.
3. Replacing Peterka
Who’s going to fill in for Peterka if he misses more time? Greenway isn’t a goal-scorer, Benson is dealing with an injury, Jack Quinn fits better at right wing and Jason Zucker wasn’t expected to play that type of role on this team.There are talented players throughout the lineup, but none have proven to beat goalies the way Peterka can. Thompson, Tuch and Dylan Cozens need to lead the way, but other forwards need to do more offensively.
The Sabres gave up a top prospect, Matt Savoie, to land Ryan McLeod and, though the third-line center has been solid defensively and at killing penalties, he had no shots on goal in the two games in Prague.
4. Stepping in
Czech fans and media were overjoyed when Jiri Kulich was on the ice for warmups Saturday in Prague.Kulich, who grew up near the city and trains here each summer, started on a line with Cozens and Quinn. The homecoming didn’t have the storybook ending, though. Kulich, 20, had a minus-2 rating in 14 minutes of ice time and showed some growing pains under difficult circumstances.
“He looked a little nervous,” said Ruff. “I thought he made some young plays, but I’ve got a lot of respect for where his game can get to. He’s a good player.”