New York (WGR 550/WBEN) - With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Casey Mittelstadt and Devon Levi did all they could to allow the Buffalo Sabres to fight another day.
Buffalo managed to earn another two points in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Rangers on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Coupled with a regulation loss by the New York Islanders and an overtime loss by the Florida Panthers, the Sabres managed to stay alive in their chase for a Wild Card spot with three games remaining in the regular season schedule. After Monday's results, Buffalo trails the Panthers by five points, sits four points back of the Islanders, and three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Sabres put up some early pressure on the Rangers, and were able to get out to a 1-0 advantage with nearly five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first period. JJ Peterka was the beneficiary of a nice pass from Jack Quinn in-behind the New York net, as the German-born winger was able to net his 12th goal of the season.
Buffalo was able to head to the locker room with a 1-0 lead through the opening 20 minutes of play, outshooting the Rangers, 14-4. However, a late Tage Thompson high-sticking penalty with 53 seconds remaining in the first period gave New York a power play chance heading into the second period.
Just before the penalty to Thompson was set to expire, Artemi Panarin was able to put the Rangers on the scoreboard with his 27th goal of the season. Panarin was able to fire a short short-side on Levi.
The Rangers continued the heightened pressure in the middle frame, and Panarin was able to net his second goal of the game. This time, he was left wide-open in the left faceoff circle, and wired a one-time feed from winger Vladimir Tarasenko over the left shoulder of the Sabres rookie goalie.
Late in the second period, the Rangers had a chance to up their advantage to 3-1, but Levi was up to the task with a pair of saves on Kaapo Kakko and Niko Mikkola.
The Sabres entered the second intermission trailing 2-1 on the scoreboard, but managed to battle back in the later half of the frame to make things interesting. Shots in the middle stanza were 13-12, Rangers, with Buffalo leading in the overall department, 26-17.
Although the Sabres did not register a shot on goal in the opening 7:30 of the third period, they finally broke through less than a minute later with Mittelstadt cleaning up an Alex Tuch rebound in front of the Rangers net. Mittelstadt's 13th goal of the season tied the game at 2-2.
Both teams generated plenty of chances in the final moments of the game, but no one was able to net the game-winning tally. New York was able to outshoot the Sabres, 11-7 in the final period, but the game still required overtime.
Buffalo was granted a glorious chance in the overtime to win the game after the Rangers took a bench minor penalty for too many men on the ice. Despite getting a few good looks, the Sabres failed to score with the man advantage.
With the help of the power play chance, the Sabres were able to outshoot New York in the overtime, 6-0, but still failed to capitalize, as this contest required a shootout.
After neither team scored in the opening three rounds of the shootout, Sabres rookie defenseman Owen Power put Buffalo in a spot to win the game, but Tarasenko was able to answer right back for the Rangers to extend the shootout.
In Round 5, it was Mittelstadt who went to the backhand on Shesterkin in order to force the Rangers into another goal to keep their hopes alive for a win. However, Levi was able to seal the win for Buffalo, as he managed to keep Kakko without a shot on his shootout attempt.
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GAME RECAP
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 14:24 - JJ Peterka (12) (Jack Quinn, Tyson Jost)
NYR: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
NYR: 1:01 - Artemi Panarin (27) PPG (Mika Zibanejad, Patrick Kane); 11:12 - Artemi Panarin (28) (Vladimir Tarasenko)
Third Period:
BUF: 8:13 - Casey Mittelstadt (13) (Alex Tuch)
NYR: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
NYR: NONE
Shootout:
BUF: Jack Quinn - Save
NYR: Patrick Kane - Save
BUF: Tage Thompson - Save
NYR: Mika Zibanejad - Miss
BUF: Alex Tuch - Save
NYR: Artemi Panarin - Miss
BUF: Owen Power - GOAL
NYR: Vladimir Tarasenko - GOAL
BUF: Casey Mittelstadt - GOAL
NYR: Kaapo Kakko - Miss
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 8:32 - Ilya Lyubushkin (Holding - 2 min.); 19:07 - Tage Thompson (High-sticking - 2 min.)
NYR: 4:08 - Artemi Panarin (Slashing - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
NYR: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
NYR: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
NYR: 1:18 - Bench minor (Too many men on the ice - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Devon Levi - BUF
2.) Artemi Panarin - NYR
3.) Casey Mittelstadt - BUF
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What's next:
The stay on the road, and will travel across the Hudson River to face the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.