(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres were defeated by the Utah Hockey Club, 5-2, on Thursday, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort or bad goaltending.
Buffalo wasn’t as good in this game as they were in their wins over the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights and Boston Bruins, but the game was right there for them late in the third period.
However, it was their constant trouble with situational awareness that bit them once again.
Trailing 3-2 in the third period, Kevin Stenlund took a high sticking penalty, giving the Sabres a prime chance to capitalize. Buffalo had James Reimer pulled for the extra attacker, and someone has to let Jack Quinn or Tage Thompson know there’s a delayed penalty and to give Utah the puck.
Thompson had no idea there was a delayed penalty, though, and tried to put the puck back to captain Rasmus Dahlin. However, it was a bad pass that went off the wall and all the way down into the empty net for an own goal.
Mikhail Sergachev then added a shorthanded empty net goal that went in off Dahlin’s glove.
Buffalo leads the NHL with 23 empty net goals against. That’s four more than the next team behind them.
Reimer had a really good game for Buffalo and made quite a few huge saves when called upon. You can’t blame him for any of the goals Utah scored.
In the first period, Ryan McLeod turned the puck over when he tried to pass up the middle and hit Clayton Keller’s skate. It went right to Nick Schmaltz, who converted the 2-on-0 with a layup pass to Logan Cooley.
On the second Utah goal, Thompson lost the draw to Jack McBain, and then followed McBain to the net. When he got there, he backed into Reimer, which created a screen on a shot from the point from Sergachev that beat him easily. Reimer never saw the shot.
On the third goal, Dahlin was just to the right of Reimer and almost completely fanned on his pass. He got a very small piece of the puck, and handed it to Dylan Guenther, who was staring at half an open net after Reimer had made two great saves.
Early in the third period, McLeod was killing a penalty and stole the puck, and used his speed to get in alone on Karel Vejmelka. He put on a nifty move for his second shorthanded goal of the season. That made the game 2-2, and gave the Sabres a chance to win.
Thompson got a chance in the second period when he could’ve shot from in front or pass to a wide-open Alex Tuch, who missed the net.
JJ Peterka then got in through the circle and Vejmelka stopped him.
Earlier in the game, Peterka did blast a one-timer past the Utah netminder on the power play with an assist from Jason Zucker, but Dahlin had a power play chance where Vejmelka robbed him with a glove save.
Peterka also missed the net on a breakaway in the first period.
The Sabres did create some good chances that could’ve won them the game, but they came up short in the end.
Just 11 seconds into the second period, Beck Malenstyn tipped in a Tyson Kozak shot, but Utah challenged the goal for goaltender interference and won, resulting in the goal being overturned. Malenstyn made contact with Vejmelka’s stick on top of the crease.
Kozak has lost both his first NHL goal and his first NHL assist on plays that were overturned.
Related
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had started seven-straight games and 12-of-13, which is why Reimer got the start. It sounds like Luukkonen will play Saturday in Minnesota, Reimer will play Sunday in Winnipeg and then back to Luukkonen for Tuesday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators.
Before the game, the Sabres signed defenseman Jacob Bryson to a one-year contract extension for the same $900,000 that he made this season.