ANAHEIM, Calif. – Alex Tuch turned around as Dylan Cozens approached him from behind for a hug.
Kyle Okposo, the Buffalo Sabres’ captain, skated over and shared a laugh with his teammates while the Anaheim Ducks looked on with expressions of disbelief.
A routine shot on goal by Tuch turned into a pressure-breaking goal Wednesday night. The Sabres’ do-it-all, gregarious power forward exited the penalty box in the third period with his team clinging to a one-goal lead, then launched the puck toward the net.
Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk extended his stick to try to deflect the puck away but doing so sent it over the shoulder of goalie Lukas Dostal to give Tuch his 25th goal of the season. Shattenkirk stared up at the rafters in Honda Center as the celebration commenced on the Sabres’ bench.
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Finally, 20 days after their last victory, the Sabres experienced the elation and joy of defeating an opponent. Tuch’s goal provided much-needed insurance and Buffalo held on for a 7-3 win to snap a four-game skid.
“I’m sure everyone would say it, we kinda needed that one,” said Casey Mittelstadt, one of seven Sabres to finish with multiple points against the Ducks.
The result didn’t occur without some angst. The Sabres lost a two-goal lead in the second period by allowing three goals in a span of 6:31. Mittelstadt and Peyton Krebs then scored 4:20 apart to put Buffalo ahead again before Tuch delivered the insurance goal that sent the Ducks into a spiral.
Zemgus Girgensons and Dylan Cozens added a goal apiece in the third period to help Buffalo (27-22-4) snap a four-game winless streak that dated back to Jan. 26 because of the seven-day All-Star break. Tyson Jost and Tage Thompson also scored in the first period. This was the first time the Sabres looked like themselves since a shootout loss in Minnesota.
Sabres coach Don Granato didn’t make his players sit through long video meetings leading up to the opening puck drop for the second game of this three-city road trip through California. His message was simple: play with pace and be yourselves. They accomplished both while peppering Dostal with 44 shots on goal, 19 of which occurred during a first period that was among their best through 53 games this season.
“We’re five, six days back now and their legs are better, their timing is better,” said Granato. “A couple games under their belt. It seems like we’ve been back for a long time, but we’ve only played two games. That’s coming off nine or 10 days off in a stretch where we were playing just about every other day, so we were in a tremendous rhythm.
"Tonight it felt like we were back into a rhythm as far as five guys playing together one shift to the next shift to the next shift. I know they were very excited about that feeling.”
Despite the recent skid, the Sabres entered the game ranked third in the NHL in goals per game (3.63) and their power play was fifth. The Ducks (17-32-6), meanwhile, own a league-worst negative-92 goal differential. Yet they have enough skill on their roster, led by Trevor Zegras, to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes. Their six multigoal comebacks were tied with New Jersey for the most in the NHL.
The Sabres didn’t allow the Ducks to show that skill in the first period. Though Buffalo’s first power play ended with only one shot on net, it took a lead 6:08 into the game when Jost swiped at a rebound from behind the goal line and the puck went between Dostal’s legs to make it 1-0.
Thompson had a pair of scoring chances in a three-minute span and drilled the post on a wrist shot from the right circle. He broke through for his 36th goal of the season with a one-timer on the power play at 15:58.
The Ducks didn’t have a shot on goal until 15:20 into the game. They were outshot 19-3 during the first period and the Sabres had 23 more shot attempts, but the deficit was only 2-0 because of puck luck and key saves by Dostal. The plus-16 shot differential was Buffalo’s best in any period this season and it had 10 high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The performance showed that frustration didn’t carry over from losses to Calgary and Los Angeles.
“You can’t come to work mad,” said Okposo. “You can’t practice mad. Can’t play mad. You just have to turn the page. It’s a long season. You play a lot of games. There’s going to be ups and downs. You can’t ride the wave. Yeah, we know we’ve got to win games right now, but if you don’t win a game, if you don’t play well, it’s not going to be all doom and gloom the next day at the rink. How are you going to play better the next game? It’s not by being frustrated and dwelling on it.”
Shattenkirk broke through for Anaheim with a shot from the right circle, then defenseman Cam Fowler added a pair of goals to give the Ducks the lead. Granato saw no signs of panic on his bench, only anger. The Sabres responded only 25 seconds after Fowler’s second goal with Krebs beating Dostal on a one-timer from the slot to make it 3-3.
Mittelstadt gave Buffalo another lead with his shot from the right circle with 1:57 left in the second period.
The Sabres needed their starting goalie, Eric Comrie, to be solid in the third period and he delivered. Comrie stopped Isac Lundestrom’s chance from atop the crease, and the Sabres’ penalty kill didn’t allow a shot on net with Tuch in the box for hooking.
When Tuch returned to the ice, he quickly scored to build onto their lead. The Sabres have been outscored 11-2 in the second period of their last three games, but Okposo didn’t express concern after the game. He noted that each team in the NHL is capable of capitalizing on a brief lapse like Buffalo’s during that seven-minute span.
“I just think that we let our foot off the gas a little bit,” he said. “Obviously, the first period was one of our best of the year. We just absolutely smothered them. Take your foot off the gas a little bit, they get one and it just kind of snowballs.”
There was obvious frustration in the Ducks’ play during the third period. Girgensons’ one-timer on a pass from Jack Quinn continued the barrage, and Cozens’ 19th goal of the season occurred with 1:07 left in regulation.
The Sabres moved within four points of the Washington Capitals for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Fourteen of their players had at least one point, and it was the 12th time this season that Buffalo has scored at least seven goals in a game.
“We just kept playing, stuck together and obviously things started to come,” said Krebs.
Here are other observations from the game:
1. Improvement
Mittelstadt needs to shoot more.
The 24-year-old knows it. He hears it from his coaches all the time. Their voices must have been in his head during a rush late in the second period when Mittelstadt stopped in the right circle to assess his options, then fired a shot that went bar down for his ninth goal of the season.
Mittelstadt has 14 points in his last 18 games.
2. ‘Young bucks’
This was among Quinn’s best games this season. The rookie winger finished with two assists. He was outstanding with the puck and didn’t force any bad passes. His line with Mittelstadt and Krebs was on the ice for two goals. Quinn had zero shots on goal, but he finished with a plus-3 rating.
“He just has great vision,” Mittelstadt said of Krebs. “Makes plays in all three zones. That was a great play by him, obviously. … I had a blast playing with the two young bucks tonight.”
3. Another milestone
Don’t let the Sabres’ recent play distract you from the fact that Rasmus Dahlin has continued his outstanding play on defense. With two assists in the first period Wednesday, Dahlin (58 points in 52 games) tied Phil Housley (58 points in 1983-84) for the most points by a Sabres defenseman within the team’s first 60 games of a season.
Dahlin’s shot led to Jost’s goal, then he found Thompson open for the power-play goal. The Sabres finished 1 for 5 on the power play but had 11 shots on goal during those shifts on the man advantage.
4. Trending up
Krebs has looked like a different player since sitting four of five games in November, then skating next to Okposo and Girgensons in 5-on-5 situations. Krebs has eight goals and 13 points in his last 26 games, compared to zero goals and three assists over his first 19. He’s responsible defensively and playing a hard, direct game in the offensive zone.
Krebs, like Mittelstadt, can be a pass-first center, but he’s learning the value of being selfish at times. Quinn made a savvy play to gain possession of the puck behind the goal line, then passed in front to Krebs to set up the one-timer for a 4-3 lead.
5. Next
The Sabres finish the three-game road trip Saturday night in San Jose against the Sharks. Puck drop is 10:30 p.m. Eastern.
