Kale Clague whacked his stick against the Buffalo Sabres’ net and Owen Power retrieved the puck from across the line as the Chicago Blackhawks celebrated their second goal in a span of 91 seconds Saturday night in KeyBank Center.
Clague and Power, paired together in a game for the first time, couldn’t prevent the Blackhawks’ Taylor Raddysh from scoring on a rebound in front of Sabres goalie Craig Anderson for a two-goal lead in the second period.
The Sabres were reeling. They were without three of their top six defensemen and unable to get pucks past rookie goalie Arvid Soderblom. Another loss would be their third in a row.
Slowly, the Sabres started to recover. And when coach Don Granato threw his lines in the blender, his offense awakened. Tage Thompson scored twice in the third period with captain Kyle Okposo on his right wing to tie it, and Victor Olofsson clinched a 4-3 win over Chicago with his power-play goal 36 seconds into overtime.
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"I think we kind of have to learn from that, but we fought back and got the win," said Olofsson, who is tied for the team lead with six goals after scoring twice Saturday.
Buffalo (5-3) had 45 shots on goal for a second straight game, but its offense was silent between Olofsson’s first goal at 6:19 into the game and Thompson cutting the deficit to one with 8:05 left in regulation.
Soderblom, an undrafted 23-year-old with three NHL appearances on his résumé entering Saturday, stopped dangerous chances when needed until the Sabres finally broke through.
Thompson tied the score with 3:13 left in regulation, and Olofsson added his second goal of the game in overtime overtime on a 4-on-3 power play. Sabres goalie Craig Anderson made 23 saves to earn 311th career win and bought enough time for his teammates to conjure a comeback.
"We had a a lot of guys rise (to the occasion)," said Sabres coach Don Granato. "The competitive juice rose, specifically in the third period. You love to see it."
Trouble began for Buffalo long before Raddysh and Sam Lafferty scored 1:31 apart in the second period to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.
Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was unable to play after participating in the morning skate because he aggravated a lower-body injury. The club was already without Mattias Samuelsson (lower body) and Henri Jokiharju (upper body), both of whom have been unavailable since last week.
Clague and Lawrence Pilut drew into the lineup against Chicago (4-3-1) with those three unavailable. Jacob Bryson ascended to the top defense pair next to Rasmus Dahlin. The six defensemen used by Granato on Saturday night averaged approximately 93 games of NHL experience, which was buoyed by Dahlin’s 284 career appearances with Buffalo.
The Blackhawks chose to try to attack the potential weakness, leaving them vulnerable around Soderbloom. Extended time in the offensive zone earned the Sabres two power plays in the first 5:31 of the game, the latter of which Olofsson used to spot Buffalo a 1-0 lead.
Olofsson one-timed a slap shot from the high slot off a faceoff win by Casey Mittelstadt for the winger’s fifth goal in eight games this season.
"It's great because Vic, you know as a coach he's always ready," said Granato. "There's games where there's lots of penalty-kill time and no rhythm to 5-on-5 hockey. He's always ready. He's an opportunist."
Buffalo had opportunities to build on its lead but Soderblom either made the save or the Sabres fumbled the puck. Then, Chicago tied it 1-1 with Jason Dickinson managing to get the puck over the goal line on a scramble around the Sabres’ net. Granato challenged for goaltending interference because Andreas Athanasiou dislodged the puck from Anderson by skating into the crease but the call on the ice stood with 9:40 left in the first period.
The Sabres didn’t look fazed. They started fast again in the second period with Thompson hitting the post, Jack Quinn driving to the net and Dahlin delivering another highlight-reel play to create a shot lane for himself. But the Blackhawks broke the 1-1 tie when no one could lift Lafferty’s stick or clear the rebound on a scramble around Anderson.
A similar mistake occurred with 15:11 left in the second when neither Clague nor Power managed to prevent Raddysh from scoring, though the scoring chance was created because the Sabres were unable to clear the puck from their defensive zone.
"I think a lot of times last season that’s something we ran into where we let frustration get the better of us," said Thompson. "I think that’s something we kind of took from last year and we learned from and we’ve continued to grow and get better at. ... We found a way to claw our way back in there."
Searching for a different mix of lines to create traffic in front of Soderblom, Granato elevated Okposo to the top line next to Skinner and Thompson. Cozens centered Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka. Buffalo outshot Chicago 13-3 in the third period, winning puck battles in the offensive zone and finding space to try to score.
Okposo's work on the forecheck led to extended zone time and the captain created the rebound that led to Thompson's first goal, cutting the deficit to 3-2. And it was Okposo again who helped setup the tying marker that helped send the game to overtime.
Olofsson's game-winner, his second goal of the game, snapped the Sabres' two-game skid and alleviated the frustration from losing Thursday against Montreal despite testing Canadiens backup goalie Sam Montembeault with 45 shots.
"To come out down two going into the third here and pull out two points is huge," Okposo said.
Here are other observations from the game:
1. Quite the response
Okposo was upset at himself for taking an offensive-zone penalty in Seattle on Tuesday and lamented that he hasn't produced enough offensively early this season. He's delivered a captain-like response in consecutive games, capped by his performance Saturday with two assists and three shots on goal.
The Sabres had 92.3% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts (12-1) with Okposo, Thompson and Jeff Skinner on the ice. Skinner had the primary assist on Thompson's first goal by passing the puck across the slot on a wraparound attempt.
"That’s our leader," Thompson said of Okposo. "That’s the guy you follow. He did a great job there leading the way."
2. Eventful start
The score would have been out of reach for the Blackhawks early if it weren’t for the goaltending of Soderblom. His busy night began early with a diving save to rob Mittelstadt, followed by clutch stops on Peterka and Vinnie Hinostroza later in the first period.
Soderblom stopped 15 of 16 shots in the first period – the Sabres also had 11 high-danger scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com – but he received help when an offside review overturned an Olofsson goal that occurred shortly before his shot from the slot that stood for a 1-0 lead.
3. Breakthroughs
In addition to Olofsson's big game – the winger is up to six goals this season – Thompson had an important breakthrough. The 24-year-old center doubled his output from the first seven games of the season, scoring twice in less than five minutes.
Thompson had eight shots on goal in each of the past two games. On Saturday, he finished with three points, including the assist on Olofsson's winner, and 13 shot attempts.
"I think it was just a matter of time," said Thompson. "If you’re getting chances, I think that’s all you can really ask for. If you’re not getting chances, that’s when you’ve kinda got to be looking yourself in the mirror to see what’s going on. If you’re getting chances, I think they’re bound to go in."
4. Making progress
Quinn is playing with confidence again after two difficult games to start the season. The 21-year-old winger had five shots on goal in 10:42 of ice time against Chicago. He’s cycling the puck in the offensive zone and forechecking effectively.
The Sabres had 94.12% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when Quinn’s line with Mittelstadt and Olofsson was on the ice.
5. Keeping it up
Dahlin was a key reason why the Sabres managed to break the Blackhawks’ five-game streak of scoring at least four goals. Dahlin had six shots on 10 attempts with an assist and a blocked shot in a team-high 26:23 of ice time. He’s showing poise no matter who his defense partner is. It was Dahlin who found Olofsson open in the right circle for the game-winner.
“I’m not shocked anymore,” Olofsson said with a smirk. “He just keeps doing it and he’s been unbelievable for us. Yeah, he’s a (heck) of a player.”
6. Sitting out again
Rasmus Asplund was a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game, frustrating fans who value his contributions defensively.
The Sabres have outscored teams 6-0 at 5-on-5 with Asplund on the ice, while he also ranks top 10 among all forwards in on-ice shot differential and shot quality share, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
He is the latest forward to have a two-game stint in the press box, following Quinn and Peyton Krebs. The Sabres needed to get Krebs back in and chose to sit Asplund. He has only four shots on goal at 5-on-5 in six games and needs to be sharper with the puck, but this isn’t an extended stay out of the lineup.
Asplund doesn't deserve to sit. By every measure, he's an excellent defensive forward, and he brings a scoring touch. Granato plans to continue the rotation because the Sabres have 14 healthy forwards and no one can sit for too long.
“They’ve handled it about as well as you can handle it,” Granato said of the forward rotation. “It (stinks) to have to sit a guy healthy when you know they’re competing and playing hard. It’s not a good feeling. But as I’ve said, we’re really healthy up front. I wish we were healthy on the back end. ... You just can’t play them all."
7. Adding depth
With injuries in Rochester and Buffalo, the Amerks signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a professional tryout contract Saturday. Bartkowski, 34, has appeared in 256 NHL games, most recently one appearance with Minnesota in 2020-21, and 429 games in the American Hockey League. He was in training camp with the New York Rangers on a professional tryout last month but didn’t receive a contract.
8. Next
The Sabres host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. The Red Wings (4-2-2) defeated the Minnesota Wild, 2-1, on Saturday night.
