Sabres recover, defeat Ducks in OT to open road trip

Rasmus Asplund scored his second goal of the game at 4:16 of overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres recovered to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at Honda Center in Anaheim on Thursday.

Asplund tapped the puck into an open net after receiving a pass from Victor Olofsson, who got around Trevor Zegras before warding off Jamie Drysdale to make the play.
"I think that's been one of the things we've been doing really well throughout the year here," Asplund said. "Even if we're down one or we're up by three like today … we still try to manage the calm we have in the group and stick to our game and do what we do to make us successful. I think we've been doing that all year and even today. So that's a good thing from the group, I think."
Zemgus Girgensons and Arttu Ruotsalainen also scored for the Sabres (5-1-1), who were playing the first of a four-game road trip. Craig Anderson made 34 saves.
Simon Benoit scored his first NHL goal, and Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves for the Ducks (2-4-2), who are 0-3-2 in their past five games.
"There have been so many encouraging signs with the way we've played in games, and there's been letdowns at certain times that have certainly cost us," Anaheim forward Adam Henrique said. "You look at playoff teams and teams that get in, and the difference is those games. And it is a long season, but come that time, you're four, five points out in crunch time, and you run out of games. … Those are certainly learning points [that separate] a team on the outs from a team getting in come playoff time."
The Ducks outshot the Sabres 17-12 in the first period, including getting 10 in the opening seven minutes, but Girgensons gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 15:03 from the left circle after Stolarz gave up a big rebound on Kyle Okposo's initial shot.
"It's big. Any time a goalie can give you big stops, it's a big relief to the team," Girgensons said. "It can really swing the momentum of the game. It can take the air out of them and kind of give us momentum."

Asplund made it 2-0 at 4:24 of the second with a one-timer on the power play, and Ruotsalainen was credited with the goal that made it 3-0 at 6:01 when Anders Bjork's initial shot deflected in off his stick.
Troy Terry responded at 7:46 to make it 3-1, scoring short side from the right circle off a cross-slot pass from Ryan Getzlaf. The assist moved Getzlaf one point behind Teemu Selanne (988) for first in Anaheim history.
"The kid second-guesses himself a lot, he gets in his own head, and it's amazing him going out of the lineup and coming back in," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said of Terry. "He's been as strong as ever. He's quietly turning into a very, very reliable winger that can make a play and score if he decides to shoot the puck."
Henrique scored his 200th NHL goal when he poked in a loose puck at the toe of Anderson's right skate to cut it to 3-2 at 16:31 of the second.

Simon Benoit then tied it 3-3 at 5:59 of the third period with a shot from the top of the right circle that trickled through Anderson's left arm after deflecting off Sabres forward Dylan Cozens.
"You want your players to play to a certain standard, and our guys took that personal, a personal standard," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "They weren't playing to their personal standard. So we didn't have to do as much coaching in that regard. I mean, it was tough to watch at times because you've got guys just having a tough time executing. But collectively they felt, 'OK, we're not up to our standard.' They hunkered down, supported each other. … That was nice to see that."
NOTES: It was the Sabres' first overtime win since Feb. 13, 2020, against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and their first road win in overtime since Dec. 8, 2019, at the Edmonton Oilers. … Terry has eight points (three goals, five assists) in an NHL career-high six-game point streak.