After getting out to a 2-0 first period lead, the Buffalo Sabres had it washed away by the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Monday night as the blue and gold suffered their first home loss of the season, 3-2 in a shootout at KeyBank Center.
Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz scored the lone goal of the shootout in the second round to give the visitors the victory.
The Sabres opened the scoring early as birthday boy Jack Eichel scored just three seconds into a power play chance at the 3:31 mark of the first period. With Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse in the box for a tripping minor, Eichel ripped a puck past Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper for his seventh goal of the season. Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart were credited with the assists on Eichel's goal.
The goal was also the 23-year-old's 14th point in six home games this season.
Buffalo doubled their lead to 2-0 about eight minutes later as Skinner scored his seventh goal of the season after a nice give-and-go play with linemate Marcus Johansson. Vladimir Sobotka was given the secondary assist on the goal.
The Coyotes were able to get one back just before the end of the period as forward Conor Garland snuck a puck through Carter Hutton with just 1:10 left in the first.
The period ended with the Sabres holding on to the 2-1 lead, but it was the Coyotes holding on to the shot advantage, 13-11.
The second period didn't see much action from either side early on, but the Sabres began going to work near the midway point of the period. Buffalo put together a pair of lengthy offensive zone possessions, but had no goals to show for the effort.
One of their best chances came with 8:53 left in the second as Sabres forward Kyle Okposo picked up a turnover near the top of the left faceoff circle, but instead of shooting the puck with no one defending him, he passed it to Johan Larsson to the left of the net. Larsson was denied in front, but the opportunity left Kuemper dazed and shaken up. He remained in the game after he was given a couple of minutes to gather himself during a TV timeout.
About a minute-and-a-half later, Carter Hutton was able to showcase his talents with a flashy glove save on Coyotes forward Vinnie Hinostroza on a 2-on-1 rush with teammate Christian Dvorak.
However, with less than four minutes to go in the period and Skinner in the box serving a Hutton tripping penalty, the Coyotes got a lucky bounce off a Carl Soderberg deflection in front of the Buffalo net to go tie the game at 2-2. Off a Garland shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, Soderberg's deflection popped up in the air and while trying to locate the puck, it came down off the back of Hutton and into the net.
Both teams went to the locker room for the second intermission tied at 2-2 with the Coyotes holding on to the 28-20 lead in shots on goal.
The Sabres were gifted a good opportunity to re-claim the lead just 1:47 into the third period as Hinostroza was penalized for hooking to give the Sabres another power play. However, Buffalo failed to take advantage of the man advantage and the score remained tied.
The Coyotes controlled a majority of the pace of play in the third period, out-shooting the Sabres 15-6 in the final 20 minutes of regulation, but neither team could find the back of the net before overtime.
Both teams had some extended times of possession in the five-minute overtime period, but once again, neither team was able to score the game-winning goal.
In the overtime, both Reinhart and Casey Mittelstadt were able to get pucks behind Kuemper, but both times their shots hit the post. Mittelstadt had another glorious chance in front of the Arizona net with seconds remaining on the clock, but a backhand chance was just a bit high and went over the crossbar.
The Sabres elected to shoot first in the shootout, but Eichel's opening attempt missed wide to the glove side of Kuemper. Garland was selected to shoot first for the Coyotes, but his attempt was stopped by Hutton.
After Reinhart was stuffed by Kuemper in the top of the second round, Schmaltz was able to fire a quick shot past the glove of Hutton to give the Coyotes the advantage.
With the Sabres needing a goal to extend the shootout, Mittelstadt was stopped by Kuemper on a backhand chance in-tight to hand Buffalo its first loss of the season on home ice.
The Sabres wrapped up the first month of the season with a 9-2-2 record and 20 points in the standings, which is currently good for first place in the NHL standings.
GAME SUMMARY
Goal Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 3:31 - Jack Eichel (7) PP (Jeff Skinner, Sam Reinhart); 11:16 - Jeff Skinner (7) (Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Sobotka)ARI: 18:50 - Conor Garland (6) (Barrett Hayton, Oliver Ekman-Larsson)
Second Period:
BUF: NONEARI: 16:32 - Carl Soderberg (3) PP (Conor Garland, Alex Goligoski)
Third Period:
BUF: NONEARI: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONEARI: NONE
Shootout:
BUF: Jack Eichel - MISSARI: Conor Garland - SAVEBUF: Sam Reinhart - SAVEARI: Nick Schmaltz - GOALBUF: Casey Mittelstadt - SAVE
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONEARI: 3:28 - Lawson Crouse (Tripping - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 15:03 - Carter Hutton (Tripping - 2 min.; served by Jeff Skinner); 17:04 - Rasmus Dahlin (Hooking - 2 min.)ARI: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: NONEARI: 1:47 - Vinnie Hinostroza (Hooking - 2 min.)
Overtime:
BUF: NONEARI: NONE
Shots on Goal:
BUF: 26 (11, 9, 6, 0)ARI: 44 (13, 15, 15, 1)
Goalies:
BUF: Carter Hutton - 42 savesARI: Darcy Kuemper - 24 saves
Power Plays:
BUF: 1 for 2 (50%)ARI: 1 for 2 (50%)
Three Stars:
- Conor Garland (ARI)
- Jack Eichel (BUF)
- Jeff Skinner (BUF)
What's Next:
The Sabres have a few days to prepare for a Friday night visit to Capital One Arena to take on the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. with the Paul William Beltz Pre-Game Show starting at 6 p.m. with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog on the flagship of the Buffalo Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
