Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres' bad decision-making led to bad puck management, which led to a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Columbus is now 5-2-2 in its last nine games, beating teams like the Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
Buffalo got behind early on a Kent Johnson power play goal, but just 18 seconds later, Tage Thompson tied it with his 41st of the season. Thompson felt they were too casual with the puck in the first period, and it resulted in the team being down 2-1.
With 41 shots, it’s hard to say that Buffalo didn’t have a shooter's mentality. However, they did pass up some golden opportunities throughout the night.
The Sabres had 11 shots on Elvis Merzlikins in the second period, but honestly, I can't remember one of them being a real good scoring chance.
After a very good game on Sunday against the Washington Capitals, Henri Jokiharju and Owen Power had a real tough night together. When you’re playing 20-year-olds, sometimes it’s just going to happen.
Power was on the ice for three-straight Columbus goals, and was in the middle of, at least, two of them.
Power played 27:43 on Sunday, and played even more ice time on Tuesday at 28:43, Did fatigue catch up with him?
The Sabres came out with more purpose in the third period and the fans could sense that. They were starting to come around, as they got noisy knowing the Sabres were playing better.
Jack Quinn ripped home his 11th goal of the season from the right circle, and then JJ Peterka scored his first goal in 27 games with a one-timer on the power play. All-of-a-sudden, the 4-1 deficit for Buffalo was trimmed to 4-3.
The Sabres kept pressing, but Merzlikins made some great saves in the third. Peterka had another great chance on a later power play, but he rang a shot off the post.
Craig Anderson made 31 saves, but I wouldn’t call this game one of his better ones. However, his team in front of him did hang him out more than a few times.
Sabres head coach Don Granato mentioned his team could never really get into transition, and then frustration began to set in. He felt they were very disjointed in their effort to get up ice as a five-man unit.
It was obvious in this game how much the Sabres miss defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. This is the second game he missed, and is still listed as day-to-day. Transition is what he does best, and he doesn’t complicate the easy plays.
As far as the standings go, the night wasn’t great for the Sabres. The Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins all got two points with wins. The New York Islanders got one point in a shootout loss, and the Detroit Red Wings lost in regulation.
Buffalo goes to Boston on Thursday to face the Bruins, and then return home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
