Newark, N.J. (WGR 550) - The unforeseen run for the 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres came to a close on Tuesday night.
The Sabres were officially eliminated from playoff contention in game No. 80 of the season in a 6-2 road loss to the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The home side opened the scoring in the first period of play, and it was the only scoring in the opening 20 minutes. With 11:42 gone in the game, a wayward puck eluded goalie Devon Levi, as Devils forward Jesper Boqvist got a bounce off defenseman Henri Jokiharju for his 10th goal of the season.
New Jersey doubled their lead just 66 seconds into the middle stanza, when defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler scored his fourth goal of the 2022-23 campaign.
A couple of minutes later, the Sabres thought they had trimmed the deficit in half, but JJ Peterka's would-be goal was erased on a successful offside challenge by Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
At the 6:55 mark of the second, the blue and gold got on the board and made no bones about it. Alex Tuch and Casey Mittelstadt continued their red-hot play, as they helped set up Jeff Skinner for his 34th goal of the year.
New Jersey responded less than three minutes later, as forward Miles Wood deposited a bounding puck behind Levi for his 12th goal of the season, and a 3-1 Devils advantage halfway through regulation.
The Devils upped the ante 7:10 into the third period when forward Tomas Tatar's 19th goal of the season pushed the New Jersey lead up to three goals, 4-1.
Buffalo got a second goal to make it interesting in the late goings of regulation, and it came from an unlikely source. After circling the net looking for a partner, Tuch found Mattias Samuelsson for the defenseman's second goal of a strong season.
That would be as close as the Sabres would get, though, as the Devils potted a pair of empty-net goals to skew the final score in their favor. New Jersey was able to also kill off a Buffalo power play inside the final five minutes of regulation to stave off any hope of the comeback.
With Buffalo's elimination from playoff contention, it extends the Sabres' current playoff drought to a 12th season. It ties the New York Jets for the longest active playoff drought in the four North American sports.
Listen to WGR now!
----------
GAME RECAP
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
NJD: 11:42 - Jesper Boqvist (10) (Miles Wood, Nathan Bastian)
Second Period:
BUF: 6:55 - Jeff Skinner (34) (Casey Mittelstadt, Alex Tuch)
NJD: 1:06 - Jonas Siegenthaler (4) (Nico Hischier, Tomas Tatar); 9:28 - Miles Wood (12) (Nathan Bastian, Nico Hischier)
Third Period:
BUF: 13:15 - Mattias Samuelsson (2) (Alex Tuch)
NJD: 7:10 - Tomas Tatar (19) (Damon Severson, Kevin Bahl); 17:28 - Tomas Tatar (20) ENG (Nathan Bastian, Timo Meier); 18:15 - Jack Hughes (43) (Jesper Bratt, Vitek Vanecek)
----------
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
NJD: 7:32 - Ryan Graves (Cross-checking - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 17:11 - Rasmus Dahlin (Tripping - 2 min.)
NJD: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 3:20 - Peyton Krebs (Tripping - 2 min.)
NJD: 14:56 - Ondrej Palat (Tripping - 2 min.)
----------
----------
Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Tomas Tatar - NJD
2.) Vitek Vanecek - NJD
3.) Miles Wood - NJD
----------
What's next:
The Sabres return home for their final game of the 2022-23 season at KeyBank Center against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop on Thursday for Fan Appreciation Night is set for just after 7 p.m. ET with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.