Raleigh, N.C. (WGR 550) – If the Buffalo Sabres wanted to beat the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, they were going to have to limit chances and be good with the puck.
For over two periods, the Sabres held down the man that has killed them over the years. Sebastian Aho had been pretty quiet, but he made two phenomenal passes to give Carolina its second goal and the overtime winner.
Aho now has 26 points in 17 career games against the Sabres.
For the second game in-a-row, the Sabres responded after getting scored on. The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead in the third period, only to have Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin make a play that only he could make.
While Buffalo was on the power play, Dahlin passed a puck to himself off the left wall as he entered the Carolina zone. The slick defenseman then scooped up the puck and, almost in one motion, whipped the puck past a stunned Antti Raanta to force overtime.
Earlier in the game, JJ Peterka came down the rink, and even though he was put to the ice, he kept fighting to get the puck out front. Seth Jarvis picked it up in front, but didn't realize Alex Tuch was waiting in the weeds for him.
Tuch stripped him of the puck and scored his third goal in two games.
Casey Mittelstadt, Tuch and Owen Power started the overtime and got possession of the puck. Tuch put a puck off the crossbar, and Mittelstadt’s backhand just missed the open top corner.
Buffalo pressured for well over a minute, but when the Hurricanes got control of the puck, the three players were totally spent and couldn’t get off.
Carolina had three of their most talented players on the ice, and they maneuvered the zone like the Harlem Globetrotters. As the movement was going on, Aho was out towards the blue line and Martin Necas was cutting in behind Power, who didn’t appear to see him. As Necas went to the net, Aho put a perfect pass through everyone right on his stick, and he just tipped it up under the crossbar.
Nobody did anything wrong on the overtime goal against. The three Sabres did the right thing pressuring with the puck. There’s also nothing they could do to get off the ice. They were hoping goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could freeze it for a line change.
Speaking of Luukkonen, he was excellent once again between the pipes. In the first period he stopped a shorthanded breakaway by Jack Drury, giving him confidence. Up to that point, the Sabres had dominated, but the Hurricanes got a power play goal and totally took over the period.
I think the Sabres had the right game plan trying to limit the chances and not let the Hurricanes get into transition, Yes, Carolina did pressure Buffalo into some mistakes, but I’ve seen a lot worse.
Ryan Johnson played quite a few shifts with Dahlin, and looked great in his second NHL game. He played 19:26 of total ice-time.
The rookie defenseman is going to make it very tough on head coach Don Granato to take him out of the lineup when Mattias Samuelsson gets back from injury.
Buffalo has now lost nine-straight games in Carolina, picking up just two points in that span.
The Sabres used the tie to crawl into a fifth place tie with the Florida Panthers, and one point back of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Buffalo will now get ready to host the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
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