Observations: Sabres play another Cup contender tough, fall in 5-3 loss

ST. LOUIS – The moment wasn’t too big for the Buffalo Sabres.

On the road against one of the NHL’s top teams, the Sabres scored first, responded well following consecutive goals by the St. Louis Blues and challenged goaltender Ville Husso throughout the night. 

When the Sabres faced a deficit in the third period, Tage Thompson delivered a power-play goal to tie the score. The result didn’t provide a silver lining for the Sabres, though.

Only one minute, 23 seconds after Thompson’s tying goal, defenseman Colton Parayko scored the go-ahead marker and the Blues held on for a 5-3 win Friday night in Enterprise Center. The performance was another display of resilience by the Sabres and a snapshot of what the club can do against the league’s elite. They outshot the Blues, 38-23, and had 13 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick. 

Consistency is a major missing piece of the puzzle, though. While the Sabres have played tough against several of the NHL’s best – most notably St. Louis, Colorado, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers – there have been recent let-down losses to Montreal and Ottawa. And this time, turnovers were the reason why Buffalo couldn't snap its skid.

"We executed, we were sharper, we were much better and gave ourselves a chance to at least get a point out of that game," said Sabres coach Don Granato. "Maybe we deserved more, but we just couldn’t get it done. Just some costly, simple mistakes that shouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, they happen. You have to learn from them. They have to make you better, they have to make you stronger. Just disappointing that a couple little things were the difference."

The Sabres (16-29-8) have dropped five straight since winning back-to-back games against Montreal and the New York Islanders. St. Louis (31-14-6), meanwhile, sits second in the Western Conference. The Blues are 19-6-2 on home ice and their special teams rank among the top in the league.

Most of the Blues’ roster owns a Stanley Cup ring from the franchise’s championship run in 2019, led by former Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly. The opening faceoff between O’Reilly and Thompson, who arrived in Buffalo in the blockbuster trade with St. Louis, went St. Louis’ way, but this wasn’t a one-sided game.

The Sabres also received goals from Dylan Cozens and Kyle Okposo, and goalie Dustin Tokarski made 18 saves.

It was Cozens who struck first, shooting a loose puck between Husso’s legs for a 1-0 lead only 1:25 into the game. The Sabres outshot the Blues, 14-6, during the first period and delivered a strong second with Okposo tipping a Rasmus Dahlin shot to tie the score 2-2. Okposo has 13 goals – only six away from tying his 19 with Buffalo in 2015-16 – and his line with Cozens was the Sabres’ best.

The Blues, though, received some game-changing saves by Husso.

The 27-year-old delivered a pad save to thwart a breakaway by Thompson and helped the Blues kill four of their five penalties. St. Louis was opportunistic, scoring on its first power play of the game on a one-timer by Jordan Kyrou for his first of two goals. Kyrou gave the Blues a 2-1 lead later in the first period when he tipped a Justin Faulk shot from the point.

"I thought we controlled a lot of the game," said Okposo. "That’s a group over there, they have a lot of guys that have been around a long time and they stuck with their plan. They weathered the storm and they bent and didn’t break. We gave them a couple, too many chances, and they capitalized on them, but I thought we were the better team for the majority of the night."

Buffalo was in position to take its second lead of the game, but its power play faltered late in the middle frame. Then a Casey Mittelstadt turnover led to a St. Louis rush up ice and Jacob Bryson couldn’t handle the puck, leading to a drive to the net by Brandon Saad.

Tokarski made a highlight-reel kick save, only for the rebound to go directly to Jake Walman for an easy putback and 3-2 advantage.

The Sabres didn't relent in the third, forcing turnovers and earning time in the offensive zone. They broke through again with Thompson’s team-leading 21^st goal of the season, a shot on the power play with 7:26 remaining in regulation.

But another offensive-zone turnover by Mittelstadt led to a 2-on-1 that Parayko used to give St. Louis the lead, and Brayden Schenn added an empty-net goal.

"Good teams are going to make you pay," said Thompson. "I think it has to be a shift by shift by shift, rolling it over, not straying once we start to feel good, start to play good. ... I think that’s something we’re learning right now and we’re going to learn from and continue to grow and get better."

Here are other observations from the game Friday:

1. Special teams

While the Sabres were the better team at 5-on-5, special teams were the difference. St. Louis scored on its first power play of the game, snapping a 12-for-12 run for Buffalo's penalty kill. David Perron’s backhanded pass from the right-wing boards went through traffic to Kyrou, who one-timed a shot to tie the score, 1-1, at 7:06 into the game. The Sabres had only six shots on goal during their five power plays, three of which came in the first period. 

2. Intriguing duo

Credit to Granato for reuniting Cozens with Okposo, whose work on the forecheck creates time and space for linemates. The latest example came on the first goal, when Okposo forced a turnover and Rasmus Asplund's shot led to the rebound. Later in the game, Okposo forced a turnover on the forecheck in the neutral zone and Cozens corralled the puck with speed before his shot was deflected over the glass. The trio finished with 85.71% of shot attempts when on the ice together.

"Just trying to get the puck back for those guys, create some space and I liked what we did tonight, for sure," said Okposo.

4. Man down

Defenseman Henri Jokiharju was unavailable to play because of a lower-body injury suffered Wednesday in Montreal and is doubtful to play Sunday in Dallas. Jokiharju, 22, is with the team rehabbing off the ice and the Sabres tentatively plan for him to return to the lineup next week. With Jokiharju out, Casey Fitzgerald skated next to Dahlin on Buffalo’s top defense pair.

5. Next

The Sabres will wrap up the three-game road trip Sunday in Dallas against the Stars. Puck drop is 2 p.m.