Salt Lake City, Utah (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres' first visit to Utah in franchise history did not go as planned.
For the second time this season, the Sabres were on the wrong end of a 5-2 loss to the Utah Hockey Club, this time with a defeat at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
After a fruitless opening 17 minutes of action, Utah made the most of a golden opportunity to take a 1-0 lead.
Sabres center Ryan McLeod was behind his own net as he attempted to clear the zone, using Owen Power as an outlet. However, McLeod's pass was knocked down by Utah captain Clayton Keller, and the puck bounced to his linemates in front.
From there, forward Nick Schmaltz corralled the puck and dished to Logan Cooley for a layup past Sabres goalie James Reimer.
The Sabres answered before period's end, though.
After Utah defenseman Ian Cole took his second minor penalty of the opening frame, the Sabres completed a beautiful passing play, ending with JJ Peterka wiring home his 20th goal of the season to make it 1-1. The goal came with just 10 seconds left before the intermission.
Just 11 seconds into the second period, it looked as though the Sabres had double-dipped and taken their first lead of the game. Winger Beck Malenstyn was able to get a piece of a point shot as he crashed the Utah crease.
However, the goal did not survive a coach's challenge for goalie interference and the game remained tied at 1-1.
11 minutes later, Utah potted a good goal to take the the lead back. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev fired a wrist shot from the point, and the puck eluded all the traffic as it sailed past Reimer.
Just 92 seconds into the third period, the Sabres, once again, evened the score while shorthanded. McLeod was able to cash in on a Utah turnover, and beat goalie Karel Vejmelka in alone to tie the game at 2-2.
However, Utah slammed the door on Buffalo from that point, as the home side eventually ran away with the game in the third period.
With 5:47 to go in regulation, Utah got the go-ahead goal from forward Dylan Guenther, as he deposited a loose puck off a rebound in which Reimer had no idea where the puck was.
Utah followed that goal with a pair of empty-netters from forward Kevin Stenlund and Sergachev to put the game on ice.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 19:49 - JJ Peterka (20) PPG (Jason Zucker, Tage Thompson)
UTA: 17:27 - Logan Cooley (19) (Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
UTA: 11:50 - Mikhail Sergachev (12) (Jack McBain)
Third Period:
BUF: 1:32 - Ryan McLeod (16) SHG (Unassisted)
UTA: 14:13 - Dylan Guenther (25) (Barrett Hayton, Michael Carcone); 18:50 - Kevin Stenlund (11) ENG (Unassisted); 19:41 - Mikhail Sergachev (13) ENG (Karel Vejmelka)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Logan Cooley - UTA
2.) Dylan Guenther - UTA
3.) Mikhail Sergachev - UTA
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What's next:
The road trip rolls on into Minnesota on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.