(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres couldn’t get any offensive pressure against the Canucks on Tuesday until the final 10 minutes of a 3-2 loss in Vancouver.
Casey DeSmith had it pretty easy until Rasmus Dahlin made a great move to cut to the middle, and score on the backhand to make it a 2-1 game halfway through the third period.
Devon Levi was the only reason it was a one-goal game with 10 minutes left to play. The rookie made many great saves, stopping 31-of-33 shots faced in the losing effort.
Before Dahlin scored, DeSmith had to make one difficult save late in the first period when Dahlin and the Tage Thompson line all went to the net and kept digging at the puck. Thompson also had a great opportunity when Zach Benson set him up in the slot for an open chance.
After Dahlin’s goal, Thompson made a great move to get around Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy, but instead of shooting from point-blank range, he tried to pass the puck across the crease and it didn’t connect.
Buffalo had very little energy in this game until the last 10 minutes, which is why the team only managed 17 total shots on goal.
It was a back-to-back situation, but good teams find a way to either win that game or pick up a point. As poorly as they played, the game didn’t get to 2-0 until Elias Pettersson got his first of two goals at 13:48 of the second period.
Dahlin scored at 9:23 of the third period to cut the deficit to one goal. That’s when good teams find a way to get that game to overtime, and get one or two points in the end.
Pettersson scored into an empty netter at the 18:09 mark of the final frame.
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The Sabres did keep playing, as Dahlin got his second goal of the game when his slap shot went in off of Nikita Zadorov’s leg.
Unfortunately for the Sabres, there was only 21 seconds left in the game.
Levi would’ve wanted the first goal against him back, as Quinn Hughes put a backhand shot that Levi got his pad on, but he wasn’t tight to the post. The puck was in the net before Conor Garland pushed Levi’s pad over the goal line.
Sabres head coach Don Granato challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but he obviously didn’t see the puck had gone in before the pad was pushed.
After that, Levi made numerous big saves to keep his teammates in the game.
In his last game in Los Angeles, Levi beat the Kings, 5-3, making 37 saves. Back on Jan. 9 at home, Levi lost a decision to the Seattle Kraken, but before that, went home to Montreal for the first time in the NHL and stopped 32-of-33 shots to beat the Canadiens, 6-1.
At this point of the season, any game where you don’t get points will be costly.
The Detroit Red Wings are in the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot, five points ahead of the Sabres. The Washington Capitals remain four points in front, while the New York Islanders are just two points ahead of Buffalo.
The Sabres are in Edmonton on Thursday, but on Wednesday, the Capitals host the Toronto Maple Leafs, picking up one of their three games in-hand on the Sabres.
In addition to the Sabres-Oilers matchup on Thursday, the Red Wings host the Islanders, while the Winnipeg Jets are in New Jersey to play the Devils. New Jersey is one point behind the Sabres in the standings.
