Sabres picking up points, but falling behind

Washington, D.C. (WGR) - A few years ago the Buffalo Sabres would blow games late and weren’t able to get any points out of close games. Now, they are able to come from behind and find a way to get points, but recently it’s been the loser points.

On Saturday in Washington, the Sabres skated out to a 2-0 first period lead over the Capitals thanks to some good play, especially on the forecheck.

This was also a game where Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Charlie Lindgren both played well and made several key and big saves. We’ve talked a lot about the huge mistake this team made in letting Alex Tuch walk and on Saturday, he showed why. Not only did he score the overtime winning goal when Jack Quinn left him open in the slot then proceeded to screen Luukkonen, but Tuch also got his team’s first goal which hit skates and then Tage Thompson’s stick to go in.

The Sabres have been chasing games all season, but they went for something different this time. Quinn came through the left circle from the wall and put a slick backhand to forehand move on Lindgren scoring under the crossbar. Just 4:09 later, Ryan McLeod forced a Jeff Chychrun turnover behind the net after Luukkonen had made a big save on Chychrun coming through the left circle. McLeod saw Josh Doan sprinting down the slot and put the pass right in his wheelhouse for a one-timer and his second goal of the season.

Despite the fluke goal scored by Tuch, the Sabres appeared to be in a good spot, but as it always does, the second period came back and bit them again. Mattias Samuelsson set the negative tone taking a slashing penalty 55 seconds in and four seconds after the penalty was over, Dylan Strome tied it.

Make no mistake, Buffalo was playing porly in the middle stanza, but they did get some golden opportnities to score, but Lindgren stood tall. Rasmus Dahlin, who hasn’t been himself this season came open down the slot twice. He missed the net on the first try and was stopped by Lindgren on the second. The Sabres got fortunate when a puck got away from Owen Power right to Alex Ovechkin who ripped his shot wide. Tom Wilson lifted Samuelsson’s stick to turn and come in alone on Luukkonen, but it was his turn for the big save.

Olen Zellweger put the puck over the glass and the Caps found themselves right in front of Luukkonen on the power play, but Luukkonen was up to the task on both. Right after, it was Zach Benson’s turn to miss a great opportunity as he led a shorthanded 2-on-1, but Lindgren did the splits for what ws the best save of the night.

The third goal was the one that really got to Lindy Ruff. He said his team just handed it to the Caps. Justin Sourdif battled hard beind the net and Dennis Gilbert, who was in front got frozen just watching him. Gilbert had no idea Strome had snuck in on him to the net and a 2-0 lead was now a 3-2 deficit.

The Sabres normally up their game in the third period and they did it again. Thompson open the period by doing what this team does best, hit the crossbar. The team wasn’t detoured. Noah Ostlund brought the puck to the crease and after bouncing around, it hit Matt Roy and went in.

Both goalies were on their games for the rest of the period, sending it to overtime. I think the alarming part of the O/T was Ryan McLeod was out there to win the opening faceoff and head to the bench. He did just that and gave the Sabres possession which they had for most of the 3:42. The problem was Buffalo did very little with that possession. They only got one shot and didn’t test Lindgren.

Referees will let teams run picks in overtime. It’s not legal, but this is the NHL. The picks give teams opportunities to set up outnumbered situations and both Ruff and Ostlund brought up the fact that they need to do more of that.

Luukkonen stopped 30-of-34 shots while LIndgren made 18 saves on 21 shots.

Even with Dahlin in the lineup, Power played 30:09. Dahlin played 27:20, but in the official stats was credited with five giveaways. That stat tends to mean very little because the standard is different in every city you go to.

Buffalo is 2-3 in overtime and shootouts this season and four of their last five games have gone to an extra session and they’re 1-3. The team has points in five of of six games, but their record is 1-1-3.

All picking up the loser point is doing is keeping them above water. They’re starting to fall behind in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. Washington holds the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, with the Sabres one point behind. Buffalo is also three points out of the conference cellar. In the Atlantic Division Buffalo trails the Boston Bruins by eight points. They’re five in back of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, four behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and one in back of the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers.

The Sabres left Washington for San Jose on Sunday. They’ll practice there on Monday and play the Sharks on Tuesday.