Observations: Sabres shut down by Jets' Connor Hellebuyck in final minutes of loss

His players weren't fearless. They were pressing to score instead of trusting their ability to beat any team on any night.

None of those troubling symptoms were on display Thursday night when the Sabres hosted the Winnipeg Jets. 

Granato's players turned it into the type of fast-paced game the Jets wanted to avoid. Gradually, speed and skill began to prevail over a game plan to turn it into a slog.

Tyson Jost collected a centering pass from Victor Olofsson in the slot, then rifled a shot over the Connor Hellebuyck’s shoulder to tie the score at 2:50 into the third period. The crowd in KeyBank Center roared and the Jets looked overwhelmed.

Moments later, Alex Tuch almost gave the Sabres their first lead of the game when he snuck behind the defense to earn a one-on-one chance against Hellebuyck.

All the Jets needed was a turnover to regain the lead. Kyle Connor intercepted a Rasmus Dahlin pass, then scored a breakaway goal to help Winnipeg leave Buffalo with a 4-2 win.

"We did have enough opportunity right down to that last one when they had their game-winning goal," said Granato. "We had two opportunities, actually. So, it looked like we had a perfect chance to go up 3-2. And in 10 seconds, you know how that happens sometimes and it happened tonight.”

The Sabres (20-18-2) had opportunities to tie it again late in regulation. The puck rolled through the crease after a shot by Tuch off a faceoff win, and Jeff Skinner couldn't finish a wraparound in which the Jets' goalie was caught off guard. Jost also couldn't get the puck past a defenseman's stick with part of the net open.

Karson Kuhlman clinched the win for Winnipeg on an empty-net goal with 42.7 seconds remaining.

Olofsson also scored for the Sabres, whose losing streak reached three despite a strong performance by goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He finished with 23 saves and saw his league-best six-game win streak end. 

The Sabres started the week four points out of a playoff spot with four games in hand, but they're not fretting too much about the standings 40 games into the season.

"I don’t think we’re going to look too far into the future," said Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt. "We know what we have here. We know we have an extremely good team and obviously there’s going to be some bumps in the road, but we’re a confident group and we know what we have."

The Jets entered Thursday with wins in six of their previous 10, including a five-game win streak that ended earlier in the week, and owned a plus-27 goal differential. Their points percentage was fourth best in the Western Conference and their starting goalie, Hellebuyck, is a Vezina Trophy winner with 21 wins in 31 appearances this season.

The Sabres knew how the Jets were going to play. Winnipeg (27-14-1) wanted an ugly game. Among the top defensive teams in the league, the Jets had no interest in trading scoring chances with the highest-scoring team in the NHL.

The Sabres tried and failed to stretch out the Jets’ defensive structure with long, outlet passes that led to turnovers. It wasn’t until Jost’s line took the ice that Buffalo began to play a simple, direct game. Jost’s line with Olofsson and Mittelstadt won a few puck battles to earn scoring chances early in the game.

But it was Winnipeg that broke through with Dylan Samberg’s wrist shot through traffic beating Luukkonen short side for a 1-0 lead at 6:35 into the game. Luukkonen then had to make saves on Pierre-Luc Dubois and Josh Morrissey before the Sabres began to threaten again.

Following a successful penalty kill, Jost cut through the slot and tested Hellebuyck with a backhanded shot. The Sabres went on the power play when Jeff Skinner drew a penalty, but they managed only two shots on goal and entered the first intermission trailing for the second time in three games.

The Sabres’ power play went 0 for 5 against one of the top penalty kills in the NHL, but their work in the second period led to Olofsson’s 16th goal of the season. After peppering Hellebuyck with five shots in two minutes on the man advantage, the Sabres tied it 1-1 with Jost applying a screen in front and Olofsson scoring from the slot at 12:02 into the second period.

"We know they’re kind of collapsing in their own end and they kind of swarm you a little bit, so you can find the open ice in the middle," said Olofsson. "We did that a couple times and created some good chances, but we have to bury those."

Morrissey needed only 2:09 to give the Jets another lead. Among the best defensemen in the NHL this season, Morrissey’s slap shot from the left point went in as Dubois screened Luukkonen to make it 2-1.

The Sabres were the better team in the third period and outshot the Jets 15-9 in the final 20 minutes, beginning with Dylan Cozens' shorthanded, partial breakaway that hit the side of the net. Hellebuyck was Winnipeg's "best player," said Granato, and shut down Buffalo's top scorers with the game on the line.

"We had a ton of chances to get back into the game, and unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize them," said Olofsson.

Here are other observations from Thursday:

1. Sharp again

Luukkonen suspects food poisoning was behind the illness that delayed his start this week, but the 23-year-old showed no ill effects Thursday night. He made a few clutch saves, including one on Cole Perfetti in the second period, and he was screened on each of the Jets’ first two goals. This was as much of a psychological challenge for Luukkonen as it was a mental one. He’s in a three-goalie rotation despite earning the starting job.

“I guess that’s part of the business and how my contract is working,” said Luukkonen, who was officially loaned to Rochester on Monday to make room for Eric Comrie. “It’s not optimal, but I get it. It’s business. I try to just focus on hockey and play as well as I can.”

2. Losing draws

The Sabres are being held back by their issues in the faceoff dot, as illustrated again by Mark Scheifele winning a draw against Jost moments before Samberg’s goal in the first period and Dubois’ win over Tage Thompson before Morrissey’s marker in the second.

Entering Thursday, Buffalo ranked 32nd in the NHL with a 45% success rate on faceoffs. For context, Chicago was first at 56.6%. The Sabres have been at the bottom of the league in consecutive seasons and lost faceoffs add up throughout a game. It’s more difficult to gain possession, particularly in the defensive zone, when you can’t get the puck off the draw and you allow the elite players an opportunity to execute a set play.

3. Difficult conversation

Carrying three goalies Thursday temporarily cost Jack Quinn his spot on the roster. The rookie winger was loaned to the Rochester Americans to make room for Luukkonen, but it’s a paper transaction. Quinn, 22, isn’t going anywhere. Though Quinn and JJ Peterka have looked “fatigued,” according to Granato, both are likely to return to the lineup Saturday.

The plan all along was for Quinn and Peterka to sit against Seattle and Winnipeg so both could learn from a different perspective. Quinn has zero goals and three assists in his last 13 games, while Peterka has one goal and two assists during that span.

“What you rely on now is relationships you’ve built with him, primarily the understanding and feel he has that we are very engaged with his development,” Granato said of the conversation with Quinn. “We believe in him, his abilities right now and his potential day by day. … I think it’s beneficial for players at times, and most of the times it fits in the category of a young guy, to step back for more than one game.”

4. Saying goodbye

Mattias Samuelsson is going to need a new roommate in Buffalo and on the road with Casey Fitzgerald now a member of the Florida Panthers. The defensemen have been together since Samuelsson turned pro in the 2020-21 season. They were defense partners in Rochester, roommates on the road in Buffalo and lived together near KeyBank Center this season.

On one hand, Samuelsson was thrilled to see Fitzgerald get another NHL opportunity, albeit with a divisional opponent that plays the Sabres in Buffalo on Monday. But it’s the difficult part of the NHL. Samuelsson was bummed, even as he sat at his dressing-room stall Thursday morning. He had to say goodbye to a close friend whom he might not be able to call a teammate again.

“I was happy for him,” said Samuelsson. “I love the guy, and I want to see him playing in the NHL. I think he’s got a good opportunity, but we’re roommates. We live together, we sit together on the planes. It sucks to see him go. I’m gonna miss him. … Obviously, it’s the business.”

5. Next

The Sabres play the Predators in Nashville on Saturday night at 8 p.m., followed by a home game against the Florida Panthers on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.