Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres were easily the better team on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Sabres were losing, 2-1, in the third period until Casey Mittelstadt tied things up at with 8:08 remaining in regulation.
Buffalo went on to win in overtime when Owen Power set up Jeff Skinner in front of the Columbus net.
Buffalo had 42 shots on Blue Jackets netminder Daniil Tarasov, while Columbus finished with just 20 on Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Before I get too far into this, I want to talk about how good Luukkonen was in this game.
The 24-year-old made big saves at the big times, getting his first win since Nov. 27 in New York against the Rangers. Luukkonen looked like the goalie he was before he got sick, and the Sabres really need him to be that.
The Sabres had the better of the play in the first after Luukkonen made a huge save on a Yegor Chinakhov breakaway after Mattias Samuelsson passed it right to him up the slot.
Having the better of the play in the first period didn’t do them any good, as Rasmus Dahlin got caught just standing there, watching Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson score the game's opening goal.
The Dylan Cozens line with Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka was good all night, pressuring on the forecheck and creating numerous scoring chances.
The trio came through early in the second period when all three crashed the net. The puck squirted out to Quinn, who made no mistake tying the game. It was his third goal in just five games played this season.
The Sabres sent quite a few pucks Tarasov’s way, but they hit a few posts and missed the net a lot.
Saturday marked the third time in four games where the Sabres played very well, going 2-1-1.
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Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert filled in for Sabres bench boss Don Granato, who is currently dealing with an illness. It was an easy transition for him, because the players know Appert either playing for him in Rochester or from training camp.
Appert will also coach on Sunday in Ottawa against the Senators.
The win put Buffalo six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and seven points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said Saturday that forward Zemgus Girgensons will likely return to the lineup after missing 16 games due to injury. If that happens, Adams will have to make another roster move.
With Luukkonen playing against Columbus, Devon Levi likely gets the start on Sunday in Ottawa. He’s 7-5-2 this season with a 3.31 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage.
Levi hasn’t been his best in his last three games, giving up 11 goals. That’s a whopping 4.58 goals-against average in that span, and his save percentage is an .843. His last good game came back on Dec. 15 in Vegas against the Golden Knights, stopping 33-of-35 shots faced.
Back in October, Buffalo beat the Senators in Ottawa, 6-4.
The Sens have won 2-of-3 games, breaking a six-game losing streak in the process. Ottawa is capable of scoring goals, as they’re 10th in the NHL, averaging 3.39 goals per-game.
Their problem is they’re 29th at keeping the puck out of their net.
Another problem for Ottawa is their captain Brady Tkachuk has been out of control. He leads the NHL in penalty minutes with 74, and he’s killing his team by being in the box all the time.
Tkachuk also isn’t scoring the way he should, as he has 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points in 31 games.
Tim Stutzle is Ottawa’s leading scorer with 33 points in 31 games. Drake Batherson is right behind with 29 points.
In goal, Joonas Korpisalo is 7-12-0 this season with a 3.66 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage. Meanwhile, Anton Forsberg is 6-6-0 this year with a 3.29 goals-against average and an .877 save percentage.
Join Brian Koziol and myself at 5 p.m. EST for pregame coverage on our sister station, WBEN News Radio 930.
