Sabres thoughts: Luke Schenn’s debut, Alex Tuch’s injury and a rare Buffalo loss
The Sabres had been riding high since the Olympic break but lost 2-1 to the Capitals on Thursday night.
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Luke Schenn made his Sabres debut Thursday night in a loss to the Capitals. Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images
The Buffalo Sabres were due for a game like this one.
The Sabres had been riding high since the Olympic break, posting a league-best record of 8-0 since play resumed. They climbed into first place in the Atlantic Division after a thrilling slugfest against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and followed it up with six goals in a win over the San Jose Sharks two nights later.
But Thursday night against the Washington Capitals, the Sabres had an off night and lost 2-1 on a late goal from Jakob Chychrun. The Capitals were playing their second game in two nights after losing to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. The Sabres were fresh off a day off. That showed in the first period when Buffalo outshot Washington 15-3 and had a 15-5 advantage in scoring chances at five-on-five. Buffalo ended up with a 1-0 lead, though, with Sam Carrick the only one to cash in.
Things got dicey from there. Ryan Leonard scored two minutes into the second period when newcomers Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley failed to connect on a pass at the offensive blue line, leading to a turnover and a two-on-one. As it turned out, this was the type of game where every mistake was magnified. Coach Lindy Ruff credited the Capitals for playing a smart game, limiting their mistakes and clogging up the middle of the ice to prevent the Sabres from getting dangerous looks.
“They were waiting for us to make some mistakes, and we made a few in the third period,” Ruff said.
The Capitals’ game-winner didn’t come until there was 1:33 left in the third period. Aliaksei Protas out-worked every Sabre on the ice for a loose puck around Buffalo’s net and managed to find Chychrun for a one-timer.
“When we’re playing this well, you have to learn from these games,” Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said. “There’s not going to be one team anymore this season or next season who is going to take us lightly. We earned that. But we have to be ready for it.”
Thursday’s game was a missed opportunity for the Sabres. The Lightning won to pull within two points of first place in the Atlantic Division. And the Carolina Hurricanes lost in regulation, which would have opened the door for the Sabres to get closer to the top spot in the entire Eastern Conference.
“Every game from here on out is going to be another level each game,” Sabres center Tage Thompson said. “The race gets tighter, the games start meaning more, and everyone’s fighting for points and position in the standings. We know that. We’re in the same position. I don’t think anyone in this room thinks that just because we’re in first in the Atlantic right now, we’re safe by any means.
“There’s a lot of hockey games to go, and that’s kind of what’s kept us steady right now, just focus on one game at a time and have a short-term memory. We have to shake this one off and move forward and look for the next one.”
The Sabres play next at home Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that has been sinking in the standings since the Olympic break. It should be a chance to get back on track, but as Carrick said after the game, “there’s really no one in this league you want to take lightly, no matter what the standings are. Tonight was a good lesson for us that every game is going to be big. Teams are going to be gunning for us.”
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s loss.
1. Alex Tuch was not in the lineup because of a lower-body injury. He was on the ice for morning skate, but knew he wasn’t going to be able to play after testing the injury. Ruff said Tuch could have played if this were a playoff scenario, but the team didn’t want to push it and risk making the injury worse. Tuch’s absence was felt. This team is deep at forward, but Tuch’s skillset is tough to replicate with the players they have on their roster.
Alex Tuch missed Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury.
Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images
2. Schenn made his Sabres debut on Thursday and played on a pair with Stanley. They were on the ice for Washington’s first goal. Schenn made a pass to Stanley along the offensive blue line. It missed the mark, and Leonard got the puck and blew by Stanley to create a two-on-one. He ended up beating Luukkonen with a shot off the rush. Stanley also took a holding penalty later in the game. This wasn’t the cleanest game from that pair, but Ruff gave both more than 13 minutes of ice time.
The Capitals only had three scoring chances during Stanley’s five-on-five minutes and four during Schenn’s, so it was mostly low-event hockey when they were out there. But the one mistake proved costly. They’ll need some time to get acclimated to how Buffalo plays, but it might be a good idea to at least get Michael Kesselring back in the lineup Saturday against the Leafs.
3. Zach Benson had a couple of turnovers late in this game that earned him a brief stint on the bench. Ruff singled him out for those plays after the game as well. One led to a high-danger chance from Tom Wilson that Luukkonen managed to stop. Benson played on a line with Thompson and Noah Ostlund, and that trio didn’t generate much offense.
4. There was an amusing sequence in this game that got a rise out of the crowd. On the power play, Thompson teed up five straight one-timers from his favorite spot. Three of them hit the net at over 90 miles per hour. One was blocked, and one missed the net.
Thompson rarely has that much space from that spot, so getting him the puck made some sense. But it became a bit predictable for Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren, who made the saves with ease.
5. Carrick has been a perfect fit on Buffalo’s fourth line next to Beck Malenstyn. Malenstyn found him with a nice backhand pass to set up the Sabres’ only goal in this game. Tanner Pearson, acquired at the trade deadline, also made his Sabres debut in this game and played with Carrick and Malenstyn. The Sabres had a 6-0 advantage in scoring chances and a 4-0 advantage in high-danger chances during that line’s five-on-five minutes.