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The third period was theirs for the taking. Trailing by a goal, the Ducks were all over the Buffalo Sabres. They peppered goaltender Linus Ullmark shift after shift and came within inches of tying the game. Then all of a sudden, a dagger was delivered.

Jeff Skinner's goal to give the Sabres a two-goal lead with 8:46 remaining in the third period effectively put an end to Anaheim's comeback hopes, as the Ducks lost 3-0 to the Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday night. It was an unfortunate result for the Ducks, who have lost three straight games and finished their five-game road trip with a 2-3-0 mark, scoring just two goals over their three losses.
The Ducks' best chances tonight came in the third period. Adam Henrique was robbed of what seemed to be a sure-goal until Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe got a piece of his scoring chance after the Ducks center deked Ullmark and seemingly had a wide open net. Then, on the power play, Brandon Montour had his point shot clang off the far post to keep the score 1-0 in favor of the Sabres.
John Gibson did what he could to keep the Ducks in the game, finishing with 30 saves on 32 shots.
Rookie phenom Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring for the Sabres with 3:09 remaining in the first period and Conor Sheary scored into an empty net to make it 3-0 with 1:58 left in the game. Tonight's victory represented a bounce-back performance for the Sabres, who lost 2-1 last night against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Ullmark delivered a sparkling 40-save performance for his second career shutout.
The Ducks won't play again until December 27 when they make a visit to SAP Center to take on the San Jose Sharks.