RALEIGH, N.C. – No third-period magic this time.
The Buffalo Sabres entered PNC Arena Friday night with 20 third-period goals this season – including 11 in the last three games. They also had a plus-13 goal differential in the final 20 minutes of regulation and both figures were tops in the NHL by far.Â
So when the Sabres hit the second intermission trailing the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, they had to feel like they were still in good position.
But playing a team many feel could represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup final, in a building where they've had no success the last six years, the Sabres couldn't turn this game around. Buffalo's three-game winning streak ended as Carolina posted a 5-3 victory.
Center Sebastian Aho dominated the night for the Canes with a hat trick and had a scintillating assist on Martin Necas' goal at 4:03 of the second period that snapped a 2-2 tie. Aho had a four-point night while Necas added two assists to finish the game with three.
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"Their chemistry is off the charts," said Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson. "They had a couple of one-touch passes that were unbelievable."
The Sabres (7-4) fell to 1-9-4Â in their last 14 games vs. Carolina, with the lone win coming April 5 in KeyBank Center (4-2). Buffalo is 0-7-1 in its last seven at Raleigh and has not won here since March 22, 2016. Carolina improved to 8-2-1.
The Sabres got Bryson's first goal of the season just 28 seconds into the game and took a 2-1 lead on Victor Olofsson's slapshot at 10:06 of the first that leaked through Carolina goalie Antti Raanta.
But Aho's second of the game on a power play at 12:45 of the first tied the game. In the second, he fed Necas with a wicked spin-o-rama pass that duped forward Jack Quinn and defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, and Necas beat Craig Anderson to put the Canes in front for keeps.
The teams have built an odd amount of hate toward each other in the early season. It was Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield who drew the ire of Sabres center Tage Thompson in the preseason, with Thompson scoring a beatdown of Chatfield in response to a hit. In this one, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin took a gloved punch to the nose from Carolina's Jasperi Kotkaniemi in the first period in the midst of a scrum along the boards.Â
Dahlin had a game-high eight shots on goal and a few good chances at a tying goal in the third period but Kotkaniemi got the last word, tipping home a Necas pass for his first goal of the season at 9:22 of the period to put Carolina up, 4-2. Aho's third came with 2:14 left into an empty net.
Dahlin did score Buffalo's final goal on a power play with a one-tenth of a second to play and he probably deserved it. He played 26:58 in the game, had 11 shot attempts and blocked three shots.
"He was on fire again like every game," said Bryson. "He's probably our most consistent player right now."Â
"We're asking a lot of him obviously with who we're missing back there but he loves it," coach Don Granato said, referring to the injured Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Ilya Lyubushkin. "He loves a challenge. It's pushing him to be ever better, the way he's responding."
Dahlin was getting treatment in the trainers' room after the game and was unavailable for comment. Dahlin's play noticeably peaked after he took the wallop from Kotkaniemi.
"You're only going to stoke the competitive juice in him," Granato said. "You're only going to wake him up."
Here are some other observations on the game:
1. Struggle city
Neither Tage Thompson (11 points in the previous three games) nor Jeff Skinner (eight points in last four) had a point and each had only three shots on goal. Fitzgerald and Lawrence Pilut were both minus-3 while Quinn was minus-2 despite collecting two assists. Quinn's turnover in the defensive zone directly led to Aho's first goal.
"Some of our younger guys gaining experience as they go with not many games in the NHL will have to take a look at film," Granato said. "These are the games you want to play, with top players in a building like his with the energy. You learn from mistakes."
2. Happy anniversary
Nov. 4 is going to forever be a big anniversary in Sabres history as Friday marked one year since the epochal trade of Jack Eichel to Vegas for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and draft picks. Granato drew chuckles from reporters after the morning skate when he revealed GM Kevyn Adams told him of the trade late on the night of Nov. 3 while the Sabres were in Seattle – but swore him to secrecy while final details were being worked out, and that meant not even telling his assistant coaches.
"So I told them, 'Just watch Twitter. You'll probably like what's going to happen,' " Granato said. "But it didn't come out on Twitter, so it drove them nuts. I couldn't say. Kevyn said it's not done, so we joke around about it now. It's hard to imagine that's a year ago. It just seems like we're just so far beyond that."
3. Seen and heard
• Olofsson's goal made him the seventh player in franchise history to record at least nine goals through the team’s first 11 games of a season, joining Thomas Vanek, Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Danny Gare, Pat LaFontaine and Rick Martin.Â
"I feel good right now," Olofsson said. "I've just got to keep shooting, take pucks to the net and hope that continues."
• Carolina outshot Buffalo, 33-25, with Craig Anderson making 28 saves in his first loss of the season after three wins. The Sabres' string of periods allowing fewer than 10 shots ended at seven in a row
• The Hurricanes did a jumbotron welcome to the Sabres' moms, who are on the road trip with the club, during a first-period timeout. The women were in a suite all in Royal Blue jerseys and were waving back to the crowd. They got booed.
4. Next
The Sabres left immediately after the game for Tampa, where they will meet the Lightning Saturday night at 7. MSG will broadcast that game with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on site.
The Sabres are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games against the Lightning overall, with the lone win being a 5-1 triumph on Oct. 25, 2021 in KeyBank Center. Buffalo is 0-5-1 in its last six trips to Amalie Arena and has been outscored, 29-15.
