Buffalo Sabres takeaways: Costly late mistakes waste comeback in 6-5 OT loss to Ducks
Buffalo extended its road point streak to 14 games despite digging itself a hole in the first two periods.
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Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had two assists, including on the goal that gave the Sabres a 5-4 lead against the Ducks.
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There were plenty of moments during the Buffalo Sabres’ 6-5 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks that signaled this might not be their night.
Early in the game, goalie Alex Lyon, who has been one of the team’s most valuable players this season, allowed a couple of uncharacteristic goals. Buffalo’s typically stingy penalty kill managed to kill off just one of Anaheim’s four power plays. The Sabres’ power play missed a few prime chances of its own, including an open look that Noah Östlund narrowly missed. And Tage Thompson, the team’s leading scorer, didn’t register a shot on goal.
All of that contributed to the Sabres trailing 4-2 after two periods. The Sabres had already started their West Coast road trip 3-0, and this game was the second of a back-to-back. For a team that’s been on as torrid a run as the Sabres have the last few months, they were due for an off night.
But even on an off night, the Sabres found a way to put themselves in a position to win. They never feel like they’re out of a game, and they weren’t out of this one.
Early in the third period, Jack Quinn scored after Rasmus Dahlin set him up with a slick drop pass. That gave the Sabres life. Then midway through the third period, Owen Power, who was impacting the game all night, scored on a wrist shot from the point to tie the score at 4. When Zach Benson scored less than two minutes later off another perfect pass from Dahlin, it looked as if the Sabres might escape California with all eight points on the trip.
Then Alex Tuch took a tripping penalty with 2:34 left in the game. It was a bad time for a careless penalty, and it put the Ducks in position to pull their goalie and have a 6-on-4 advantage for the final two minutes. It didn’t take the Ducks long to make it count as Mikael Granlund scored on an open shot in the slot.
The Sabres got to overtime to secure a point in the standings, but 1:29 into overtime, Troy Terry won a puck battle against Thompson along the wall and ended up alone on a breakaway. He made a quick move to the backhand for his second goal of the night, and the Ducks won 6-5.
“It’s the way you lose that gets you disappointed,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game. “The way we got back in the game, you love. I would have liked to see (the Ducks) earn that a little bit more.”
Thompson echoed Ruff’s disappointment. The Sabres are beyond the point of being satisfied with overtime points or their comfortable perch in the standings. They’re in a tight race for first place in the Atlantic Division and within striking distance of first place in the conference, so every point counts. That’s why they weren’t content to pack it in after a rough first two periods, and why the inability to hold the late lead won’t be something they just brush off.
But the big picture matters, too. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost in overtime, so the Sabres still have a four-point lead atop the division. They have extended their road point streak to 14 games and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot. Fine-tuning mistakes after a rare off night is an OK place to be this time of year, especially when you can do it while in first place.
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s loss.
1. Lyon experienced it all in this game. He allowed a couple of tough goals early and didn’t have his best game overall. But in the third period, while the Sabres were taking control, Lyon made two big saves on breakaways to keep the game from flipping back in the Ducks’ favor. Even when he wasn’t having his best night, Lyon found a way to make some key saves to give the Sabres a chance to get a point. Before this game, Lyon had allowed more than three goals in a game just once since Jan. 1. That this happened against the Ducks, one of the most dangerous scoring teams in the NHL, shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise.
2. Power had one of his best offensive games of the season. He had a goal and an assist and probably could have had another assist or two with some of the plays he was setting up. Power’s assist came on Buffalo’s first goal. He pinched deep into the zone, retrieved a puck off the wall and slid a perfect pass to Tuch for a goal. Power was on the ice for four of Buffalo’s five goals. In 14 games since the Olympic break, Power is plus-7 with nine points. He’s coming into his own at the perfect time for the Sabres.
3. The Sabres’ fourth line of Benson, Sam Carrick and Beck Malenstyn continues to tilt the ice in Buffalo’s favor. The Sabres outshot the Ducks 8-1 when that line was on the ice at five-on-five. And getting that key goal from them was big on a night Thompson was held without a shot. The offense needs to come from other places, and that line is showing a lot more scoring ability with Benson and Carrick playing there.
4. Special teams crushed the Sabres. Allowing the Ducks to go 3-for-4 on the power play while failing to capitalize on three power-play chances is a recipe for losing close games. That’s one area of this game the Sabres can’t afford to brush off. When the postseason starts, special teams will flip games. The Sabres have been a strong penalty-killing team, but this was a reminder of what it looks like when the goalie isn’t the best penalty killer on the ice. The power play has been a season-long enigma. Some hot stretches have helped the Sabres climb closer to league average on the power play, but it’s still not a reliable strength of their game. And it remains to be seen whether the power play can come through when the stakes are even higher.
What’s next? The Sabres return home for a four-game homestand that starts Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins and continues with games against the Detroit Red Wings, Seattle Kraken and New York Islanders. Buffalo has an 11-point lead on the closest wild-card contender and a 9-point lead on the Montreal Canadiens, the team currently in third place in the Atlantic Division. They are in a strong position heading into the final 11 games of the season.