Rasmus Dahlin wasn't going to find solace while standing in the dressing room late Monday night.
He wasn't interested in dwelling on the Sabres erasing a two-goal deficit late in the first period or how they built a two-goal lead late in the third against a perennial Stanley Cup contender.
All the 21-year-old, do-it-all defenseman could think about was watching the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrating on the ice in KeyBank Center after scoring twice in the final 5:25 of regulation before winning in overtime on a shot by Steven Stamkos.
"It just (stinks) that they came back in the end," Dahlin lamented following the 6-5 loss to their Atlantic Division foe.
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This wasn't like past meltdowns against the Lightning (13-7-1), who have won 11 of their last 12 over the Sabres (9-12-1). Buffalo was the better team for all but 10 minutes of regulation. It tested Tampa Bay with 37 shots on goal and had a 5-1 edge in overtime.
"You want your team to learn its lessons quickly, so it will be fascinating to see what the Sabres can do with an arduous schedule staring at them," writes Mike Harrington.
Even when trailing by two early in the game, they were controlling play and allowed just four shots on goal in the first period. Their offense was well-rounded with a goal apiece from Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn, Tyson Jost, Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner.
The Sabres' defense, led by Dahlin, shut down the Lightning at 5-on-5 until late in regulation. They were a different team in the final several minutes of the third period, though. Rather than continuing to pressure Tampa Bay following Skinner's goal that made it 5-3, Buffalo's forwards and defensemen backed off.
The Lightning capitalized with Stamkos and Brandon Hagel eliminating the two-goal deficit in a span of 3:23 to send the game to overtime. Tampa Bay scored three goals on the power play. In the extra frame, the Sabres didn't pressure Stamkos when he beat goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a high shot 2:44 in to win it for the Lightning.
"This is a big learner for us," coach Don Granato said. "Big, big learner because we backed off pressure. The psyche changed the last 10 minutes, and we gave up time and space that we didn't for 50 minutes."
This is another harsh lesson for the Sabres. They're a far better team than they were last season when they were outscored by a combined 12 goals in their final three meetings against the Lightning, who went on to lose to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup final. The Sabres played the Lightning tough in Tampa Bay early this month, only to lose 5-3.
Sheahan, a 30-year-old forward, was placed on unconditional waivers by the Sabres on Sunday with the intent to terminate his contract.
This wasn't the result of a horrible start, though Buffalo trailed by two goals late in the first period. The Sabres were the better team early, creating turnovers and limiting the Lightning’s chances. A penalty proved costly. Buffalo’s only power play of the game ended with a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, which the Lightning turned into the opening goal when Brayden Point scored his first of two Monday night for a 1-0 lead at 7:54. Corey Perry made it 2-0 less than 10 minutes later when he wasn’t covered at the far post, allowing the veteran winger to one-time a cross-ice pass past Luukkonen.
Running out of time to feel better about their first period, the Sabres finally capitalized on a Lightning mistake. Defenseman Erik Cernak recklessly forced pass into the middle of the ice to try to relieve pressure around Tampa Bay’s net.
Thompson intercepted the puck, then proceeded to add to his season-long highlight reel by stickhandling around Elliott before tucking the puck across the goal line to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 2:06 left until the intermission. Fifty-nine seconds later, Quinn tied the score when he collected a centering pass from JJ Peterka and flicked the puck over Elliott’s blocker to make it 2-2.
“It’s great to see,” Jost said. “We could have went one of two ways there. Once that second goal went in, we could have sat back and kind of sulked but we didn’t. We knew we were getting chances and we were right there. … It shows a lot from our team, but now we have to pursue that for a full 60 minutes and keep our foot on the gas.”
The response wasn’t a one-off. Twice, the Sabres gained the lead, capped by Cozens’ shot from the right circle with 10:23 left in regulation. Skinner delivered the insurance marker when he spun and shot the puck past goalie Brian Elliott to make it 5-3.
Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams declined to discuss Chychrun when asked by The Buffalo News on Sunday, but Adams reiterated that he’s always seeking ways to improve his roster in the short- and long-term.
The Sabres had the momentum. They were only 5:41 away from a regulation win over a formidable opponent to start a four-game week. But some soft defending in front of Buffalo’s net led to Stamkos’ quick strike.
With Jost in the penalty box late in the third period, the Lightning tied the score on Nikita Kucherov’s shot deflecting off Hagel and in. The Sabres had their opportunities in overtime, none better than a breakaway for Owen Power, but they gave Stamkos too much time and space for the captain to earn his fourth point of the game.
“We’ve got to stay on them for 60 minutes,” Dahlin said. “We’ve got to be on those top lines. We’ve got to make it hard on them for 60 minutes. We can’t take a shift off. Kucherov, obviously, did his thing and we should be a little bit harder on him, I think.”
Here are other observations from the game:
1. Spectacular play
Buffalo hasn’t seen this strong of start for a Sabres player in some time. Before Thompson’s latest display of world-class skill, he entered Monday on pace for 102 points. If Thompson reaches that milestone, he’ll become only the sixth Sabres skater to record 100 or more points in a single season. The others: Pat LaFontaine, 148 points in 1992-93; Alexander Mogilny, 127 points in 1992-93; Gilbert Perreault, 113 points in 1975-76; Pierre Turgeon, 106 points in 1989-90; and Rene Robert, 100 points in 1974-75.
We’ve rarely seen a drop in Thompson’s play since the season started. He’s just the ninth skater in franchise history to record four or more points on multiple occasions through the Sabres’ first 19 games of a season. Through 22 games, Thompson has 14 goals and 28 points.
The Devils are proving Ruff isn't out of touch. As we saw in Buffalo, he could play a defensive-oriented team relying on goaltending (think 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2010) and he could have a team skate like the wind (think 2006 and 2007).
2. Fitting in
Jost’s arrival, combined with Kyle Okposo’s return from injury, has given the Sabres an effective fourth line. Jost, 24, has the speed, skill and savviness on the forecheck to fit perfectly next to Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons. The group is a threat offensively, as we saw with Jost’s first goal since joining the club via waivers this month. Jost took advantage of a rebound created by Okposo to make it 3-2 Sabres at 9:07 into the second period.
“Those two guys are a lot of fun to play with and were tenacious on pucks and relentless,” Jost said of his linemates. “That’s the way we’ve got to play. I think you can kind of see it’s starting to click for us. It’s nice, but it still stings. You want to do more when you have a loss like that.”
3. Response
Dahlin didn’t stand idle when Kucherov recklessly skated into Luukkonen late in the third period. The Sabres defensemen pounced on Kucherov, driving the Hart Trophy winner to the ice with a few punches mixed in. It started a brief melee between the players on the ice and led to offsetting minor penalties for both.
“You’ve got to protect your goalie,” Granato said.
4. Stepping in
Winger Rasmus Asplund drew back into the lineup after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury. Winger Vinnie Hinostroza, center Peyton Krebs and defenseman Lawrence Pilut were healthy scratches. Defenseman Jacob Bryson remains week to week with a lower-body injury suffered Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues.
Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin did not return to the game after blocking a Stamkos slapshot late in regulation.
In other roster news, the Rochester Americans released defenseman Brandon Davidson from his professional tryout contract. The Amerks, who play in Cleveland on Thursday, have eight defensemen on their roster after Davidson’s release.
5. Next
The Sabres travel to Detroit to play the Red Wings on Wednesday night at 7 p.m., followed by another game in KeyBank Center on Thursday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
