Henri Jokiharju hung his head, Aaron Dell slowly skated away from his crease and the rest of the Buffalo Sabres filed into their dressing room at KeyBank Center.
Jokiharju, a 22-year-old defenseman, had just turned the puck over during the 3-on-3 overtime Monday afternoon, leading to Dylan Larkin’s game-winning goal to seal a 3-2 victory for the Detroit Red Wings.
The Sabres (11-20-7) squandered a two-goal lead with the Red Wings (18-17-5) scoring twice only 3:07 apart during the third period, and they crumbled in the final moments in front of Dell, who made 32 saves to improve his save percentage to .923 in three starts since rejoining the club.
Buffalo could have pulled away long before Larkin tied the score 2-2 on a shot from the slot with 6:32 remaining in regulation. Victor Olofsson was stopped on a breakaway early in the third, Jeff Skinner could have scored multiple goals during a game in which he was the Sabres’ best player and a number of players chose to force a bad pass rather than challenge goalie Alex Nedjelkovic with a shot.
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“This is a young team. We’re going to have to learn to play with a lead and capitalize and playing with a lead,” lamented Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who missed the net on a breakaway with three minutes remaining in the third. “We weren’t able to do that tonight. We let our goalie down.”
This was a far better performance by the Sabres than their 4-0 loss in Detroit two nights earlier. For much of the game Monday, Buffalo used its speed to carry the puck through the neutral zone, forechecked effectively and created space in the offensive zone.
The club’s top line of Tuch, Tage Thompson and Skinner combined for 15 of the Sabres’ 28 shots on net, and they were responsible for what seemed like the decisive goal at 9:21 into the third period. Tuch pushed defenseman Moritz Seider off the puck with ease at the left corner, set up Thompson in front for a shot on net and Skinner corralled the loose puck before firing a shot for a 2-0 lead. It was Skinner’s team-leading 14th goal of the season and his fifth in the past six games.
On the power play moments later because Detroit unsuccessfully challenged for goalie interference, the Sabres could have made it 3-0 against the league’s No. 18-ranked penalty kill. Tuch, Thompson and Skinner each had a shot before a change of possession led to Vladislav Namestnikov’s shorthanded goal during a 2-on-1 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Shortly thereafter, Larkin scored when Dylan Cozens was knocked off the puck behind the Sabres’ net, allowing Robby Fabbri to make the centering pass.
“If you look at the game, when you’re up two, if you sit back on your heels and let them dictate the play, it’s tough because they’re going to come and they’re going to have momentum and they’re going to spend time in our defensive zone,” said Skinner. “It’s going to be tough to get out of the game that way. At the same time, you still want to attack and when you do attack, you have to find a way to bear down. We had opportunities.”
The Sabres also had chances in the second period, including a Thompson shot from the slot and Skinner from in tight after he stickhandled between the legs of defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.
The Sabres, though, are having trouble scoring and generating chances. For the season, Evolving-Hockey.com has the Sabres ranked 31st in generating quality shots in 5-on-5 situations. Secondary scoring has been difficult to come by.
Olofsson is amid a career-long 22-game goal drought, Rasmus Asplund has one goal in his last 30 games, Cozens’ ledger includes only one in his last 12, Thompson has scored twice in 16 games, Cody Eakin has one in his last 26 and John Hayden has zero in 31 games. Center Peyton Krebs returned to the lineup Monday but had zero shots in 14:41 of ice time.
The Sabres have totaled two or fewer goals in five of eight games since the holiday break, and they were outshot by the Red Wings 16-13 in the third period and 35-28 for the game.
“We were able to get pucks in deep and play maybe more simple,” said Skinner. “That allowed us to play more in the offensive end and obviously when you’re playing more in the offensive end, it’s a little more enjoyable. Unfortunately, we just didn’t do it enough in the third.”
Here are other observations from the game Monday:
1. First look
With two defensemen unavailable due to injury, Mattias Samuelsson was recalled for his first game with the Sabres this season. Samuelsson, 21, made an immediate impact, thwarting a Detroit 2-on-1 by deflecting a shot in the first period and tying up Lucas Raymond’s stick on what could have been an easy tap-in in the second.
This was a long overdue promotion for Samuelsson, who was unable to make the team out of camp because of an injury suffered at the Prospects Challenge. He’s also dealt with the flu and spent time in Covid-19 protocol.
"He was good," said Sabres coach Don Granato. "He was the least of our worries, that’s for sure. He’s a pretty stabilizing guy, obviously. ... Samuelsson has such a presence with his size and reach and strength."
2. Around the boards
Assistant coach Jason Christie was added to Covid-19 protocol after the game. ... Jokiharju gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 9:56 into the game with a shot through traffic that leaked through a screened Nedeljkovic. … Samuelsson finished with 18:32 of ice time, while Rasmus Dahlin led all Sabres (23:18) and Tuch was tops among forwards (20:00). … Buffalo won only 35% of its faceoffs and Detroit won all three draws to maintain possession in overtime. … Detroit successfully had Tuch’s goal overturned at 8:15 into the second period because of offside on the zone entry.
3. Injury updates
Granato announced before puck drop that goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body), winger Zemgus Girgensons (lower body) and defenseman Colin Miller (undisclosed) were placed on injured reserve, meaning each will miss at least seven days retroactive to their last game played. Defenseman Jacob Bryson also was unavailable against Detroit, leading the Sabres to assign Casey Fitzgerald to the taxi squad.
4. Next
The Sabres are scheduled to play the Senators in Ottawa on Tuesday night in front of no fans at Canadian Tire Centre. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m.
