Anaheim, Calif. (WGR 550/WBEN) - A pair of late third period goals helped make things interesting, but it was far too late to be enough for the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night in a 4-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center in Southern California.
The home side opened the scoring less than six-minutes into the contest.
Longtime Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg tipped in a shot from defenseman Radko Gudas to give Anaheim 1-0 lead. This came off a turnover just outside the Buffalo blue line by forward Casey Mittelstadt.
The goal ended up being the only scoring play of the first period.
The Ducks dialed up the pressure in the middle frame, and were rewarded twice for their efforts. Anaheim also boasted a 19-6 shot advantage in the second period alone.
Forward Sam Carrick made it a 2-0 game less than four minutes into the stanza with a power play tally he batted into the Buffalo net.
Less than a minute later, Silfverberg struck for his second goal of the evening off another turnover at center ice, this time from defenseman Connor Clifton.
The Sabres finally appeared on the scoresheet with 5:19 to play in regulation.
While boasting a 6-on-4 man advantage with Gudas in the penalty box for Anaheim, Sabres head coach Don Granato pulled goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for an extra skater. Shortly after, Jordan Greenway's power play tip-in cut the deficit to 3-1 in favor of the Ducks.
The blue and gold continued to make things interesting in the late goings, as with just under three minutes left on the clock, captain Kyle Okposo let a wrist shot go from the slot that beat goaltender John Gibson and pull the Sabres to within a goal, 3-2.
Moments later, though, Anaheim extinguished any hope of a Buffalo comeback when veteran forward Adam Henrique hit an empty net to make it 4-2, Ducks.
----------
SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
ANA: 5:51 - Jakob Silfverberg (3) (Radko Gudas, Cam Fowler)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
ANA: 3:37 - Sam Carrick (7) PPG (Olen Zellweger, Troy Terry); 4:30 - Jakob Silfverberg (4) (Mason McTavish)
Third Period:
BUF: 14:41: - Jordan Greenway (5) PPG (Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Cozens); 17:04 - Kyle Okposo (9) (Tage Thompson, Jordan Greenway)
ANA: 18:51 - Adam Henrique (15) ENG (Frank Vatrano, Cam Fowler)
----------
----------
Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Jakob Silfverberg - ANA
2.) John Gibson - ANA
3.) Olen Zellweger - ANA
----------
What's next:
No rest for the blue and gold, as Buffalo takes on the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night for a 10:30 p.m. EST puck drop at Crypto.com Arena. Pregame with Brian Koziol and Paul Hamilton on WGR starts at 9:30 p.m. EST.