Sabres wrap: Adam Lowry's overtime goal sends Jets to 3-2 win
Adam Lowry scored with 1:01 left in overtime Thursday night in KeyBank Center to send the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win over the Sabres.
Adam Lowry scored with 1:01 left in overtime Thursday night in KeyBank Center to send the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win over the Sabres.
The Sabres (11-12-3) lost their fifth game in a row and played without their captain, Rasmus Dahlin.
Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens had a goal apiece for the Sabres to back their goalie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 27 saves in regulation.
The Jets roared back twice to tie the score, first with a goal by Gabe Vilardi only 47 seconds after Thompson made it 1-0. Kyle Connor converted on a power play early in the second period to draw it even at 2-2.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power (25) skates with the puck against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period of an NHL hockey game at the KeyBank Center
on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)
First period
• Jets winger Vladislav Namestnikov's hooking penalty 2:28 into the game put the Sabres on the power play.• Thompson's snap shot from the right circle went off the far post and in to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead with 16:33 left in the first period. It was Thompson's third goal in two games, and Alex Tuch earned his 200th career assist.
Buffalo has scored the first goal in 15 of its 25 games this season.
• The Jets tied the score 1-1 on a goal by Vilardi only 47 seconds later. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff challenge for goalie interference because the replay showed Vilardi may have hit Luukkonen's glove before he tipped Haydn Fleury's shot.
The goal stood, though, and the Jets were awarded a power play for the Sabres' failed challenge.
• Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert and Jets defenseman Logan Stanley were given matching 5-minute fighting majors and 10-minute misconducts for their brief scrap with 8:22 left in the first period.
• The Sabres' penalty kill went 3-for-3 in the first period after Buffalo gave Colorado only one power play Tuesday night.
• Jiri Kulich led a 3-on-1 toward the Jets' net but deferred to Peyton Krebs and took an odd-angle shot that Connor Hellebuyck stopped with ease.
• The Sabres were outshot 14-11 in the first period, and the Jets had more shot attempts (28-21).
Second period
• Thompson and Jacob Bryson took minor penalties on the same shift only 1:33 into the second period, giving the Jets a two-minute 5-on-3.• Connor finally capitalized with a one-timer from the right flank, as the puck leaked through Luukkonen to tie the score 2-2 with 16:54 left in the second period.
• Luukkonen made a challenging save to stop Vilardi's wrister form the left circle with 3:34 left in the second period.
• Sabres rookie center Tyson Kozak scored what would have been his first NHL goal with a shot from the slot as Beck Malenstyn crashed the net with 2:24 left in the second period. Buffalo had the 3-2 lead for only a few minutes, though.
Jets coach Scott Arniel challenged for goalie interference, which led the NHL Situation Room to overturn the goal. Malenstyn was pushed into Hellebuyck by Jets center Brad Lambert.
"Video review determined Buffalo's Beck Malenstyn impaired Connor Hellebuyck's ability to play his position in the crease prior to the puck entering the net," the league's explanation read.
• The Sabres were outshot 12-9 in the second period, with Connor's goal the only one scored during the 20-minute frame. Buffalo was 2-1-2 when tied at the end of the second period this season.
Third period
• Luukkonen used his glove to snare Fleury's point shot only 23 seconds into the third period.• Sabres winger Alex Tuch cut to the net and snapped the puck off Hellebuyck's shoulder.
• Byram collected an outlet pass, skated down the left wing and fired another shot at the Jets' goalie.
• Buffalo outshot the Jets 5-1 through the first seven minutes of the third period.
• Henri Jokiharju's shot from the right point created a rebound, but Hellebuyck was in position to stop Kozak's backhanded shot.
• Hellebuyck also recovered quickly when Tuch created a rebound with a shot from the left circle, then Jason Zucker barely missed the open net as the top line had the Jets pinned in their own zone with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period.
• The Sabres were awarded a power play with 7:09 left in the third period because of Namestnikov's knee-on-knee hit that tripped Malenstyn.
• Buffalo was unable to score on the power play, as Jets defenseman Neal Pionk blocked one of Zucker's shots and the Sabres misfired multiple passes.
• Luukkonen gloved Fleury's slap shot with 1:54 remaining in regulation. The Sabres had outshot the Jets 8-2 up until that point in the third period.
Lineup
Jack Quinn was a healthy scratch as Sabres coach Lindy Ruff opted to have 2021 seventh-round draft pick Kozak make his NHL debut.Rasmus Dahlin's back spasms caused the Sabres captain to miss his first game of the season. Dennis Gilbert drew into the lineup in place of Dahlin, though Jacob Bryson was paired with Bowen Byram.
The Sabres' lineup at the beginning of the game:
Jason Zucker - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - JJ Peterka
Ryan McLeod - Jiri Kulich - Peyton Krebs
Beck Malenstyn - Tyson Kozak - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Jacob Bryson - Bowen Byram
Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju
Dennis Gilbert - Connor Clifton
