Edmonton, Alberta (WGR/WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres emerged victorious in, what was, a wild night of hockey on Tuesday in Edmonton.
The Sabres recovered from a disastrous third-period collapse, where they coughed up a 3-0 lead, and got a clutch overtime winner from Alex Tuch in a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place.
The Sabres tallied the game's opening goal on a power play with just under a minute left in the first period.
A point shot from captain Rasmus Dahlin was tipped in front by Josh Doan, who was credited with his ninth goal of the season.
Buffalo was awarded the power play due to a goaltender interference infraction against Oilers forward David Tomasek. He and Colten Ellis collided very hard in the Sabres crease, hard enough for Ellis to be called off the ice following Doan's goal by concussion spotters.
That forced backup Alex Lyon into the game for Buffalo, who came in relief for a second-consecutive night.
In the middle stanza, it was all Buffalo, overcoming a deflating overturned call along the way, too.
Midway through the second period, Tage Thompson scored, what he thought was, his 14th goal of the season, as he shoved the puck home while posted up to the right of Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.
However, the goal was wiped off the board when the Oilers challenged for a missed stoppage, and officials went to replay and realized they missed a glove pass.
At the 11:03 mark, though, Thompson proved the puck doesn't lie.
He picked the pocket of Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard, and then officially netted his 14th goal of the year.
Less than a minute later, Doan struck for a second time on a man advantage. This one, in particular, was a beauty.
After receiving a pass from Thompson, Doan went between his legs to reach double-digit goals for the season, giving the Sabres a 3-0 advantage in the process.
For as strong as the Sabres played in the second period, the Oilers matched the intensity in the third and roared all the way back.
The comeback began just 10 seconds into the frame when Oilers captain Connor McDavid brought Rogers Place to life with his 15th goal of the campaign.
Less than two minutes later, forward Vasily Podkolzin followed suit and made it a 3-2 contest with his sixth goal of the year.
Buffalo weathered the storm from there until, legitimately, the last-second.
McDavid tied the game at 3-3 with 1.9 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime between the Sabres and Oilers in Edmonton.
Fortunately for the Sabres, the team righted the ship in the extra period.
It took just 33 seconds for Alex Tuch to reverse the fortune, and lay to rest any hopes for the Oilers putting the cherry on top of a comeback.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 19:01 - Josh Doan (9) PPG (Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson)
EDM: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 11:03 - Tage Thompson (14) (Unassisted); 11:59 - Josh Doan (10) PPG (Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin)
EDM:
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
EDM: 0:10 - Connor McDavid (15) (Mattias Ekholm); 1:56 - Vasily Podkolzin (6) (Leon Draisaitl, Ty Emberson); 19:58 - Connor McDavid (16) (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard)
Overtime:
BUF: 0:33 - Alex Tuch (11) (Ryan McLeod, Rasmus Dahlin)
EDM: NONE
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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Josh Doan - BUF
2.) Connor McDavid - EDM
3.) Alex Tuch - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres next head to British Columbia to visit the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday at Rogers Arena. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.