Seattle, Wash. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have now been swept in 3-of-4 season series against the Seattle Kraken. A 6-4 defeat on Monday at Climate Pledge Arena dropped the Sabres to 1-7-0 all-time against the Kraken.
The Sabres grabbed the opening goal just over five minutes into the contest. Jack Quinn's point shot found its way into the net off a Kraken defender, and the Buffalo winger had his ninth goal of the season.
The Kraken answered back 27 seconds later, though.
After an initial shot produced a luscious rebound off Devon Levi, former Sabres forward John Hayden slammed the puck into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
With 11:06 gone in the first period, Buffalo found itself looking up at Seattle for the first time in the game. Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson cashed in on another rebound, this one to the left of Levi to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead.
In the second period, Seattle added to its lead on a man advantage chance. With Zach Benson in the box for a hooking minor, Kraken forwards Stephenson and Matty Beniers went to work on the power play.
The duo played pitch-and-catch to the left of Levi, with Stephenson feeding a pass down the slot for Beniers for his 10th goal of the 2024-25 campaign.
Later in the middle stanza, on a power play of their own, Jason Zucker and the Sabres were finally able to put a stop to the Kraken barrage. Zucker's deflection of Rasmus Dahlin's one-timer helped pull the Sabres back to within a goal, 3-2.
Despite coughing up the initial 1-0 advantage, Tage Thompson helped the Sabres climb all the way back with 4:22 to play in the second period. Thompson toed the blue line, stick-handled to create some space, and wired a wrist-shot past Seattle netminder Joey Daccord.
It was Tage's 20th goal of the year, his fourth season in-a-row reaching that plateau.
The game remained tied at 3-3 for a whole 56 seconds, and it was not in the favor of the Sabres.
A one-timer from Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak vaulted Seattle back into the lead, 4-3, before the teams split for the second intermission.
At the midway point of the third period, Seattle grabbed its second multi-goal lead of the afternoon.
Defenseman Adam Larsson was allowed to step into a slap-shot, and on its way towards Levi, the puck changed direction off of Thompson to make it 5-3, Kraken.
With 1:21 left in regulation and using an extra-attacker, the Sabres pulled back to within a goal. Alex Tuch located a loose puck in front of Daccord, and tapped home Buffalo's fourth goal of the game.
That would, however, be as close as the Sabres would get.
Just 17 seconds later, Kraken forward Jared McCann deposited the puck into the Sabres' empty net from center ice to put a bow on the 6-4 final.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 5:07 - Jack Quinn (9) (Owen Power, Peyton Krebs)
SEA: 5:34 - John Hayden (1) (Mitchell Stephens, Ryker Evans); 11:06 - Chandler Stephenson (8) (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Ryker Evans)
Second Period:
BUF: 9:31 - Jason Zucker (16) PPG (Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson); 15:38 - Tage Thompson (20) (Mattias Samuelsson, Peyton Krebs)
SEA: 6:41 - Matty Beniers (10) PPG (Chandler Stephenson, Vince Dunn); 16:34 - Jamie Oleksiak (4) (Shane Wright, Jared McCann)
Third Period:
BUF: 18:39 - Alex Tuch (15) (Dylan Cozens)
SEA: 10:25 - Adam Larsson (3) (Jared McCann, Eeli Tolvanen); 18:56 - Jared McCann (14) ENG (Jamie Oleksiak)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Adam Larsson - SEA
2.) Jamie Oleksiak - SEA
3.) Jared McCann - SEA
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What's next:
The Sabres remain in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday for a visit to Vancouver to take on the Canucks. Puck drop at Rogers Arena is set for 10 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.