(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres played hard in the third period on Sunday night, which helped beat a tired Calgary Flames team in a 4-1 victory. The Flames had played Saturday night in a loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the second period, I thought the Sabres got hard-headed and went from chipping the puck by the Calgary defense to trying to go through them with very little success.
An example of how Buffalo got back to its game plan was on the game-winning goal in the third period.
Tage Thompson got to the blue line and chipped the puck in behind the net. He and Alex Tuch were at top speed, and got to the puck first. Tuch caused a turnover to Thompson, who won his battle and found JJ Peterka alone in front.
His 24th goal of the season made it 2-1, Buffalo, with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation.
Thompson and Connor Clifton then put the game away with empty-net goals, with Clifton's goal coming with some help from goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Luukkonen had an excellent rebound game after giving up eight goals in Edmonton on Thursday night when his team hung him out to dry against the Oilers. The 25-year-old stopped 32-of-33 shots, with many coming off outnumbered situations and players left alone in front.
The only goal to beat Luukkonen on Sunday deflected in off Owen Power’s stick.
Peyton Krebs is from Calgary, and he celebrated his homecoming by giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead just 4:53 into the game. It was his first goal in 30 games, and just his second goal in 43 games. It was his fourth goal of the 2023-24 season.
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Buffalo will fly home from Calgary on Monday morning with an extremely disappointing 2-3-0 road trip. The Sabres were flying high from a three-game winning streak, and were only three points behind the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Islanders for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.
Now, they’re six points back of the Capitals for that final Wild Card spot, and Washington has two games still in-hand.
Meanwhile, Buffalo is five points behind Detroit, as the Red Wings have a game in-hand. They’re also two points back of the Islanders, who have one game in-hand, and one point behind the New Jersey Devils.
Tuesday night is a backbreaker game for Buffalo, as Detroit visits Washington. New Jersey will also travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs.
The Sabres will practice on Tuesday before hosting the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday to kick off a five-game homestand.
