Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - After a dominating win on Friday night in their opening game of the Sabres Prospects Challenge, the Buffalo Sabres, once again, showed a strong offensive showing on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils at Harborcenter.
However, the solid effort comes up just short in a 5-2 loss in Game 2 of the tournament in Downtown Buffalo.
The Sabres opened the scoring about five-and-a-half minutes into the contest thanks to a newcomer to the organization.
Off a faceoff to the right of the Devils' net, center Riley Fiddler-Scultz won the draw and the puck found the stick of forward Tyler Tullio. It didn't take long before the puck was off his stick, as he wired a quick shot past Devils goalie Isaac Poulter.
The Devils responded about four minutes off a nifty passing play inside the Sabres' zone. Xavier Parent was the beneficiary of a pass from linemate Max Graham, and his second goal of the tournament tied the game at 1-1.
The Sabres managed to outshoot the Devils, 13-6, in the opening 20 minutes and also had a couple of chances to re-take the lead on he power play, but failed to convert.
The Devils grabbed the lead shortly into the second period off a mistake behind the net by Sabres goalie Ryerson Leenders. While playing the puck, Leenders ended up giving the puck right to Chase Stillman, who was able to deposit it into an open net for his second goal of the tournament.
New Jersey took a two-goal lead following another beautiful passing play on a power play. This time, Graham and Tag Bertuzzi helped set up Matyas Melovsky for his first goal of the tournament and a 3-1 lead.
The Sabres were presented a golden opportunity to get back in this game when the Devils were penalized twice to give Buffalo a 5-on-3 power play.
A little over a minute into the two-man advantage, the Sabres capitalize thanks to the Isak Rosen-Jiri Kulich connection that many in Rochester were familiar with last season. Kulich was able to wire his third goal of the tournament to make it a 3-2 game.
Sabres' 2024 first-round pick Konsta Helenius was also able to pick up his first point of the tournament with a secondary assist on the power play tally.
Buffalo was able to, once again, outshoot the Devils in the second period, 9-7, but were unable to find the equalizer before the end of the second period.
The Sabres were presented a couple of other golden opportunities in the third period to even the game at 3-3, but failed to find ways to beat Poulter in the New Jersey net.
With time running out and the Sabres in need of a tying goal, Buffalo pulled Leenders for the extra attacker, but failed to capitalize with the extra attacker.
The Devils were able to seal their victory with a pair of empty net goals in the dying moments to capture a 5-2 win in Downtown Buffalo.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 5:29 - Tyler Tullio (1) (Riley Fiddler-Schultz)
NJD: 9:26 - Xavier Parent (2) (Max Graham, Chase Stillman)
Second Period:
BUF: 9:28 - Jiri Kulich (3) PPG (Isak Rosen, Konsta Helenius)
NJD: 4:15 - Chase Stillman (2) (Unassisted); 7:32 - Matyas Melovsky (1) PPG (Tag Bertuzzi, Max Graham)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
NJD: 18:33 - Cole Brown (2) ENG (Jace Isley); 19:35 - Chase Stillman (3) ENG (Xavier Parent)
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Isaac Poulter - NJD
2.) Chase Stillman - NJD
3.) Jiri Kulich - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres will conclude their Sabres Prospects Challenge on Monday with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Faceoff at Harborcenter is slated for 5 p.m. ET, and can be heard on our sister station - The Bet 1520 - with Paul Hamilton and Pat Malacaro.