(WGR Sports Radio 550) - As the Buffalo Sabres prepare to end their four-game road trip in San Jose on Saturday, they enter the day in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 3-2 overtime win on Friday over the Anaheim Ducks.
The Ducks got out to a 2-0 lead at the 14:07 mark of the second period, scoring six seconds after Zach Benson exited the penalty box for a needless roughing penalty.
Buffalo never deviated from their plan, and the two goals they gave up were when two teammates got in the shooting lane, but didn’t block the shot, totally screening Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The second goal was a tip that went up and over him.
Luukkonen was, again, very solid for Buffalo, stopping 22-of-24 shots. In the six games around the Montreal game, in which he was injured and got pulled, Luukkonen has stopped 152-of-160 shots, which is a .950 save percentage.
Since it’s a back-to-back scenario for the Sabres, there’s a good chance James Reimer gets the start against the San Jose Sharks, who he spent two seasons and a few games in another with, playing 99 games.
This season, Reimer has played two games since training camp opened, and they were with the Ducks. He’s 0-2-0 with a 4.50 goals-against average and an .864 save percentage.
After the Ducks' second goal, Luukkonen made the save of the game. Frank Vatrano walked in alone off a 2-on-1 and deked to the backhand. Luukkonen got a very small piece of the puck with his catching glove, putting the puck over the net.
Buffalo got on the board when Owen Power put a puck towards the net. I watched the replay in slow motion five times, and it looked like the puck missed Tuch’s stick, sailing under it to John Gibson. Peyton Krebs was at the net and saw the puck lying in behind Gibson, and won the battle to the puck, scoring, what looked like, his third goal of the season.
Players will usually tell you who scored, and Krebs certainly celebrated like he touched the puck. It also looked like he touched the puck.
The official scorer disagreed, and said Tuch deflected the puck and either Gibson or Isac Lundestrom put the puck in their own net.
Just 50 seconds later, Power did a terrific job of killing a play, and quickly executed the breakout up ice, sending Jason Zucker in on a breakaway. Zucker's goal allowed the Sabres to go to the intermission tied, 2-2.
Last season, the Sabres were one of the worst teams in the NHL at getting games to overtime, guaranteeing them, at least, one point. They haven’t been much better this year, but they played a solid third period on Friday and got the game to overtime, guaranteeing, at least, one point.
Tuch is the best I’ve seen at stealing pucks, and in the overtime, he stepped into Olen Zellweger, knocking him over and producing a 2-on-0 the other way. Tuch made the pass to Power, but Gibson robbed him with an enormous save.
The Sabres winger didn’t stop there, though, as he got in Zellweger’s way, allowing Jiri Kulich to swoop in and get the overtime winner.
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I thought Kulich had a terrific game in only his second game at center in the NHL. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game that Kulich was on the ice in overtime because he deserved to be.
In 15:16 of playing time, Kulich had four shots, blocked one shot, and went 8-of-11 on faceoffs.
Kulich centered JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn for much of the game, and Quinn, by far, had his best game of the season. He made plays and got himself into position for numerous scoring chances, and was active throughout the evening. Quinn had seven shot attempts and two blocked shots in 17:00 minutes of time.
It’s obvious he earned more ice-time from Ruff, because he played just over 10 minutes on Wednesday.
Power lost his third assist of the game when Tuch got credit for the first goal, but his 15 even strength points leads all NHL defensemen. Cale Makar has 14 even strength points.
The Sabres are on a run that has been missing in past seasons, winning 6-of-8 games. Their streak of power play goals in a game was broken at seven, but it’s still the longest in the NHL this season.
A shorthanded streak is developing for Buffalo, as in the last four games, the Sabres are 12-of-13 on the penalty kill. In their last eight games, they’re 26-of-29, which is 89.7% and fourth-best in the NHL.
The Sabres are third on the power play in that time at 30.8%, and are second in the league with a point percentage of .750. They’re fourth in goals-for at 3.50 goals per-game.
Buffalo is 3-1-0 without its leading goal scorer Tage Thompson
San Jose went on a nice streak, where it won 4-out-of-5 games, but it’s now going backwards again. The Sharks have lost 5-out-of-6 games and 6-of-8.
Yaroslav Askarov played his first game with the Sharks in St. Louis on Thursday, losing to the Blues in a shootout, 3-2.
The 22-year-old was the 11th overall pick of the Predators back in 2020, but was traded to the Sharks in August after Nashville re-signed veteran goalie Juuse Saros to a long-term contract in the offseason.
Mackenzie Blackwood played the four games before that for the Sharks. He’s 4-6-3 this season with a 3.07 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
The first overall pick in June, Macklin Celebrini, is back from injury and has four goals and three assists for seven points in 10 games.
Mikael Granlund is the Sharks' leading scorer with nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 22 games. That’s 18th overall in the NHL.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR when you’ll hear the interview I did, along with Brayton Wilson, with Rob Ray as we filled in for "Sabres Live" on Thursday.