(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres lost to the Calgary Flames on Thursday, 5-2, but in reality, it was a one-goal game because of two empty net goals.
I can’t say that I hated a lot of this game.
However, they lost Thursday night because they were 0-for-6 on the power play against the 30th-ranked penalty kill. They also gave up two shorthanded goals, one of which came with the net empty late in the game.
Buffalo had only seven shots on six power plays, and Rasmus Dahlin may have had his toughest night all season with the extra man. They mishandled pucks, and Calgary pressured them into bad passes.
Another huge problem was Buffalo had 77 shot attempts, and only got 34 on the net. The Sabres missed the net 21 times.
Anytime you get 77 shot attempts in a single game, you should win.
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The Sabres had 14 shots on Dustin Wolf in the first period, yet, trailed 1-0 because Dahlin fumbled around with the puck and gave it away three times on the power play. The last one allowed Jonathan Huberdeau to break in on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shorthanded for a goal.
It’s not an easy save for Luukkonen to make, but it’s definitely a place where you need to make a big save to bail out your teammate.
When it was 5-on-5, the Sabres had multiple guys at the net, and did a good job of winning battles. For the first 10:31 of the second period, the Sabres stepped it up, and dominated both battles and net-front presence.
It worked well, because Mattias Samuelsson had Beck Malenstyn at the net and fired from the left point, scoring off of Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
Later in the period, Samuelsson shot from the same spot with Tage Thompson in front, and the Sabres forward deflected home his 22nd goal of the season.
Buffalo continued to attack until Luukkonen let in a goal at the 10:31 mark that he just has to stop.
Nazem Kadri took a backhand shot that the Sabres goalie got his glove on, but somehow he knocked it down to his pads and put it into his own net. That tied the game at 2-2, and then Calgary took the play away from the Sabres.
Buffalo was outshooting the Flames, 22-9, until Kadri scored. By the end of the period, it was 25-15.
The Sabres got their game back in the third period, but even though they had players at the net, they couldn't get the puck to bounce their way. Plus, Wolf made some good saves, as he kept the Flames in the contest throughout the night.
Calgary was the team that got the bounce, though, as a Brayden Pachal shot was deflected by Jakob Pelletier, and then the puck went in past Luukkonen off the foot of Owen Power.
That wasn’t the goal that killed the Sabres, though. It was Kadri’s that made it 2-2, and should’ve been stopped.
What I didn’t like from this game is head coach Lindy Ruff got no battle whatsoever on the two empty net goals. Buffalo leads the league, giving up 16 goals while playing 6-on-5, and there’s hardly ever any resistance.
The empty net goals are way too easy, because this team doesn’t battle when they have a 6-on-5 advantage. According to Statmuse, the Sabres are tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the most empty net goals-against this season.
Tyson Kozak, once again, showed he will do anything to try and win a hockey game for his team. When he’s in the offensive zone, he’s either along the wall winning battles or around the net.
In the third period, with Luukkonen down and out, Kozak dove across and made the save on a puck that would’ve gone into the unattended cage.
If this was my team, Kozak’s AHL career would be over. He would be a perfect fit moving forward with Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty.
When the time comes where someone has to go back to the Rochester Americans, I would waive Nic Aube-Kubel and send him down.
The loss now puts Buffalo 1-2-0 on the road trip, with a game in Edmonton on Saturday to close out the trip against the Oilers.
The Oilers will be without captain Connor McDavid, who is serving a three-game suspension for cross checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland in the face.