Denver, Colorado (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Counting tonight and yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres have been barraged by a combined final score of 11-5. It was the Colorado Avalanche who toyed with the blue and gold tonight inside Ball Arena.
The first period was a fly zone in Denver. There were five goals on a mere 12 total shots between the two teams. The first two belonged to the Avalanche. Forward Martin Necas scored on a breakaway just 52-seconds into the night, while forward Arrturi Lehkonen made it 2-0 just over five-minutes later.
Lehkonen's tally spelled the end of the night for Alex Lyon, who was relieved by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
From there, Buffalo and Colorado traded goals the rest of the period. Twice, the Sabres pulled within a goal; those being separated by the Avalanche's third goal from veteran forward Brock Nelson.
It was Bowen Byram who got the blue and gold on the scoreboard, and trimmed the deficit to 2-1. It was Byram's second goal of the season, and came against his former employer.
After Nelson's goal, it was Jordan Greenway's turn to keep the Sabres afloat. His first of the campaign made it a 3-2 contest, and ensured no goalies were safe on this night in the Mile High City.
Relative to the first period, the second was far tamer. Both sides seemed to settle a bit, and traded powerplay opportunities along the way. One of those man advantages was fortuitous for the blue and gold as with five-minutes left in the stanza, Tage Thompson uncorked a one-timer to tie the back-and-forth affair up at three.
Colorado responded quickly, though, and took the lead back just 86-seconds later. Rookie center Gavin Brindley beat Luukkonen far-side; a 4-3 lead the Avalanche were able to retain through the rest of the period.
The Sabres dialed up the pressure in the third, but it bore no fruit. The Avalanche withstood the late charge, all while adding two more goals to their total.
One of the few positives of the night was Buffalo's ability to frustrate all-world Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon. The blue and gold kept him off the scoresheet for 57-minutes, but MacKinnon got his when the Avalanche needed it most. He fed a centering pass to Necas, who scored to all but finish things inside Ball Arena.
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog did add an empty-net goal to officially drop the curtain shortly thereafter. It was Buffalo's eighth goal-allowed while skating with a 6-on-5 advantage this season. During that span, the Sabres have not scored a goal with their own net empty.
The 6-3 loss dropped Buffalo to 0-5-2 on the road.
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SCORING SUMMARY:
First Period:
BUF: 7:47 - Bowen Byram (2) (Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch); 13:28 - Jordan Greenway (1) (Owen Power, Josh Doan)
COL: 0:52 - Martin Necas (11) (Cale Makar, Devon Toews); 6:10 - Arrturi Lehkonen (8) (Sam Malinski, Martin Necas); 9:46 - Brock Nelson (4) (Ross Colton, Gavin Brindley)
Second Period:
BUF: 14:56 - Tage Thompson (7) PPG (Isak Rosen, Peyton Krebs)
COL: 16:22 - Gavin Brindley (4) (Josh Manson, Brent Burns)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
COL: 16:53 - Martin Necas (12) (Nathan MacKinnon, Samuel Girard); 18:11 - Gabriel Landeskog (2) ENG (Martin Necas)
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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1. Martin Necas - COL
2. Gavin Brindley - COL
3. Arrturi Lehkonen - COL
What's Next:
The blue and gold wrap up the road trip in Detroit on Saturday night, November 15 against the Red Wings. Puck drop at Little Caesars Arena is set for 7 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.