The Buffalo Sabres lost another close game on the road, falling 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday. Despite late efforts from Jack Quinn, who recorded both a goal and an assist, the Sabres could not overcome a series of key saves by Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry.
Quinn set up two significant chances in the final minutes as Buffalo trailed 3-2 with an extra attacker. Jason Zucker’s attempt was blocked by Jarry, and another feed from Quinn to Alex Tuch was also denied. The Penguins then secured their win with an empty-net goal.
“I thought Jarry made a couple of tremendous saves, or else we tie the game,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
This defeat marks another narrow loss for Buffalo on the road this season, bringing their away record to 1-6-2. In each of those losses, they have either been tied or within one goal during the third period.
Buffalo entered the final period trailing 1-0 after a slow start from both teams. The only first-period goal came when Matt Dumba’s shot deflected off defenseman Bowen Byram’s stick. “You read it, it’s going to the blocker side, and the D-man makes the right play to get a stick on the puck and it goes to the other corner,” said Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who stopped 15 of 18 shots in his third straight start. “It’s unlucky, but sometimes the bounces go your way and sometimes they don’t.”
The Sabres increased offensive pressure midway through the second period and carried that momentum into the third. Zucker tipped in a shot from Quinn for Buffalo’s tying goal with 12:40 left in regulation.
However, Pittsburgh responded quickly when Bryan Rust scored following a defensive-zone turnover by Buffalo. Luukkonen lost his stick during a scramble around his net before Rust scored from near the right faceoff circle. “It’s a fast game and those situations happen fast,” Luukkonen said. “I think if I had a stick that wouldn’t have gone in.”
Kevin Hayes added another goal for Pittsburgh with just over seven minutes remaining to make it 3-1.
“It’s too bad,” said Quinn about giving up another quick goal after tying it up. “It’s kind of how the game goes. But I feel like we were building a lot of momentum, so tough to see one go in there.”
The line featuring Zucker, Ryan McLeod, and Quinn continued to generate scoring chances for Buffalo late in regulation. According to Natural Stat Trick data cited by team officials, that trio led scoring opportunities 14-2 while on ice together.
Zucker set up Quinn’s second tally with just over four minutes left but further attempts were turned aside by Jarry. “It’s been going well,” Quinn said about his recent performance alongside linemates Zucker and McLeod. “Nice to get on the board and help the team. I feel like with Zucks and Clouder, we’re creating a lot, so it’s been good.”
On special teams play Wednesday night, Buffalo’s top-ranked penalty kill faced off against Pittsburgh’s leading power play unit only once—killing off their lone penalty after Conor Timmins was called for tripping Sidney Crosby early in play; meanwhile Buffalo did not receive any power plays during this matchup.
Coach Ruff made changes midway through seeking more offense: Zach Benson moved onto Buffalo’s top line beside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch; Josh Doan shifted onto Tyson Kozak and Noah Ostlund’s line instead.
“It was a game where I thought that McLeod line dominated for the most part,” Ruff explained afterward.“We were getting some decent shifts out of Ostlund line,but top line wasn’t generating much so just tried catch little fire there somewhere.”
The Sabres will return home Friday afternoon to host New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center; coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.,with puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m.
