The Buffalo Sabres mounted a two-goal comeback in the third period but were defeated 4-3 by the Boston Bruins in overtime on Thursday at TD Garden. The loss marks the third consecutive game where the Sabres have fallen during the 3-on-3 overtime period.
After successfully killing off a late Boston power play, Buffalo’s captain Rasmus Dahlin lost control of the puck in the offensive zone, leading to Marat Khusnutdinov’s breakaway and overtime-winning goal for Boston.
“Hell of a comeback, and then we have a chance to get two points, and then I [mess] up there,” said Dahlin. “That just can’t happen when we work so hard to come back.”
“We just have to be smarter. We have to really dig in and see how we can play better 3-on-3. But I think it starts with not getting to overtime.”
Despite trailing 2-0 after one period and 3-1 after two periods—despite outshooting Boston significantly—the Sabres managed to tie the game late in regulation. Dahlin scored his first goal of the season on a power play before Josh Doan batted home a rebound early in the third period. Doan was also involved in Alex Tuch’s tying goal with under six minutes remaining.
Reflecting on missed opportunities, coach Lindy Ruff said, “Stay with it, because I thought we did so many good things. Missed way too many good opportunities. We were making their goalie (Joonas Korpisalo) into the first star of the game for the first two periods. … But the way we were playing, if we just stay with it, we’re going to get our opportunities.”
Boston challenged Tuch’s goal for goalie interference but was unsuccessful; however, Buffalo could not convert on its subsequent power play.
“I had a good feeling about that one,” Tuch said. “Very surprised they challenged it, with the fact that they’d go down on the kill, and then who knows what could happen from there. I wish we were able to capitalize on it, but we weren’t.”
A late penalty gave Boston another man advantage before regulation ended; Mattias Samuelsson blocked a key shot from Morgan Geekie as Buffalo held off Boston until overtime.
“A penalty that we can’t take, but a couple huge blocks by Sammy, and just a real good kill that got us a point in the game,” Ruff said. “We’ve just got to stop giving away points in overtime.”
In recent games against Toronto and Columbus, Buffalo lost leads late before falling in overtime as well. Against Boston, however, their comeback effort secured them at least one point in standings despite being unable to close out for an extra point.
“You want to compare this game to the last game we played in here (a 3-1 loss Oct. 11) – no comparison,” Ruff continued. “… Just, we didn’t finish. Some of those really good opportunities right in front of the net that we have, they’ve got to go in the back of the net if you’re going to win a game like that.”
Buffalo registered a season-high 40 shots on goal along with 19 high-danger scoring chances according to Natural Stat Trick.
Following an altercation late in second period involving multiple players from both teams—and some tension between benches—Peyton Krebs fought Mikey Eyssimont early in third period which energized his teammates.
“I think there was a little bit of an accidental collision, or something like that, and then they were unhappy,” Tuch recalled. “Our team’s not gonna back down. We’ve shown it all year, we’re going to be in it together, and we were. There’s no fear, there’s no backing off, there’s no sitting back. We were going to continue to play right in their face.”
“He doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet, but, man, he works – and we can see it – and he grinds, and he does the right things,” Tuch said about Krebs’ efforts following his fight during third period action: “For him to play good defense and then have to stand up for himself—I thought that was huge and gave us a lot of energy. He’s not afraid—that’s for sure.”
Jordan Greenway returned from injury for his season debut after undergoing surgery earlier this year; he logged over fifteen minutes of ice time with three shots on goal and three hits while winning half his faceoffs taken.
The Sabres will next host Alex Ovechkin and Washington Capitals Saturday night at KeyBank Center.
