Nashville, T.N. (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres' winning streak ended at four games on Saturday night. Visiting the Nashville Predators, the blue and gold skated uphill after falling into a 2-0 first period hole at Bridgestone Arena.
The Sabres owned the ice for the first seven-minutes of the contest, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. Then on the Predators' first scoring chance of the night, forward Tommy Novak made it count and made it 1-0 Nashville.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, the Predators doubled the lead on a nifty passing play. Forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O'Reilly played pitch and catch east-to-west in front of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, before O'Reilly fed defenseman Brady Skjei directly in front of the netminder. Skjei tipped the puck in to make it 2-0 Nashville midway through the opening period.
The Sabres battled back and tied things up before period's end, though. A pair of defenseman did the damage for the blue and gold.
First, it was Bowen Byram; the beneficiary of a great pass from Jason Zucker. Byram's goal, good for the 100th point of his career, made it 2-1 with less than five-minutes left in the period.
Then, came captain Rasmus Dahlin. The defenseman was left all alone by the left-faceoff circle and with 1:35 left, Zach Benson located him to help snap Dahlin's 24-game goalless drought.
A highly-contested second period remained testy and tied until there were only five-and-a-half minutes left. From that point until the buzzer, the teams combined for three goals. Two belonged to Nashville, and a singular for Buffalo.
The Predators grabbed consecutive goals to extend the lead to 4-2. It was Nashville's second multi-goal lead through the first 40-minutes. Forward Filip Forsberg un-tied the game, before defenseman Skjei struck for his second goal of the night to make it 4-2 with 4:47 left in the frame.
Needing an answer to seize back momentum, the Sabres got just that in the form of a goal from Alex Tuch. Byram skated into the slot, which freed up space for Tuch at the left circle. Byram then fed the forward a one-time pass, and Tuch made no mistake to make it 4-3 in Nashville.
The Predators put more space in between themselves and the Sabres seven-minutes into the final period of play.
Nashville's first line of Forsberg, O'Reilly and Marchessault haunted Buffalo yet again, as O'Reilly registered his fourth assist of the night on Forsberg's second goal of the game to make it 5-3 Nashville.
The blue and gold remained persistent. Despite never leading, the Sabres kept remaining within striking distance. On a wild powerplay sequence, Dylan Cozens made it 5-4 Predators as the blue and gold kept up the resilience.
Just seconds later, it appeared as though the Sabres tied the game 5-5. Dahlin found Zach Benson moving in fresh off an offensive zone draw. Benson went against the grain to beat Nashville goalie Justus Annunen, but the play didn't survive a coach's challenge for being offside.
That change in fortune seemed to be the nail in the coffin for the blue and gold. A few more chances were turned away by Annunen and the Predators defense, before Nashville was able to salt things away with an empty-net goal from Marchessault with :36 left in regulation.
The Sabres' win streak halted at four games, as the team heads into the break on the wrong end of a 6-4 final.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 15:21 - Bowen Byram (7) (Jason Zucker, Alex Tuch); 18:25 - Rasmus Dahlin (7) (Zach Benson, Ryan McLeod)
NSH: 6:57 - Tommy Novak (11) (Unassisted); 9:26 - Brady Skjei (6) (Ryan O'Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault)
Second Period:
BUF: 17:43 - Alex Tuch (19) (Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin)
NSH: 14:31 - Filip Forsberg (20) PPG (Ryan O'Reilly, Roman Josi); 15:13 - Brady Skjei (7) (Ryan O'Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault)
Third Period:
BUF: 12:30 - Dylan Cozens (11) PPG (Alex Tuch, Owen Power)
NSH: 6:58 - Filip Forsberg (21) (Ryan O'Reilly); 19:24 - Jonathan Marchessault (17) ENG (Unassisted)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1. Ryan O'Reilly - NSH
2. Brady Skjei - NSH
3. Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
What's Next:
The blue and gold have the next two weeks off, as the Four Nations Tournament takes center stage in the world of hockey. Once the tournament wraps up, the Sabres will resume the season at home, on February 22 against the New York Rangers. Puck drop inside KeyBank Center is set for 5:30 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.