‘You just see the maturity’ | After frustrating start, Sabres mount furious comeback

With penalties, missed opportunities and some tough puck luck, Tuesday’s game had not gone the Buffalo Sabres’ way through two periods.

Jolted by some shuffled lines to begin the third, however, the undeterred Sabres stormed back to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 at KeyBank Center for their sixth win in the last seven games.

One of the changes had JJ Peterka join Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. Two minutes into the final frame, Owen Power won a board battle down low and fed Cozens at the left circle. Cozens teased a shot attempt and pivoted to a wide-open Peterka for a one-timer goal, narrowing Buffalo’s deficit to 2-1.

“We played a lot together in the past and had a lot of success in the past,” said Cozens. “We just know where we’re going to be. I know JJ’s going to be sitting there wanting the puck on the back door, so I don’t even have to look. I know he’s there wanting the goal. So it’s great playing with those two guys – I think we see the ice well together.”

On his next shift, with the Sabres again set up in the offensive zone, Cozens dropped a pass near the right dot for Alex Tuch. Tuch sped below the goal line and tossed a bad-angle shot through Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal’s short side. With the puck rolling along the goal line, Tuch curled around the net to tap it in and tie the game.

“I saw [Dostal] kind of got off balance there,” said Tuch, who was a game-time decision before tallying three hits, three shot blocks and five shots on goal. “Was honestly trying to get pucks into the crease; I thought we weren't doing that enough in the second period, so in the third I was just trying to get pucks on net and get bodies to the net.”

Buffalo kept pushing with the momentum squarely on its side. Tuch’s goal appeared to have provided a blueprint for beating Dostal, as the Sabres continued firing pucks on his glove side.

But few goalies, if any, would’ve had a chance on Henri Jokiharju’s game-winning goal midway through the third period. The Finnish defenseman, who’s got a goal in back-to-back games after going 35 straight regular season contests without one, carried the puck to the bottom of the right circle and sniped a beauty of a shot to the top corner behind Dostal’s shoulder.

“It was one hell of a shot,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

“He comes to the rink every day and works,” Cozens said of Jokiharju. “Obviously, he’s been through a little bit this year with not being in the lineup every game, but he’s a great player, he’s got all the tools. He’s been playing with a lot of confidence since 4 Nations, and we’re all happy for him.”

The Sabres defended their 3-2 lead in the final 10:29 to secure their fourth win of the season in which they trailed after two periods.

Buffalo totaled 81 shot attempts – its third most in a game this season – and 35 shots on goal. Anaheim attempted 43 and got 18 on net, 16 of which Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped. The Sabres matched those 18 in the third period alone, and Ruff echoed Tuch’s comments about Buffalo’s shot-first approach.

“I know we got some crazy goals, but we got rewarded for putting pucks on net,” Ruff said.

With an assist on all three goals, two of them primary, Cozens had his fingerprints all over the Sabres’ third-period rally. He also finished the night with four shots on goal and a game-high seven hits for one of his most impressive statlines of the season.

“He was great,” Tuch said. “I thought his poise with the puck, he was making plays, he was really good on the forecheck. He was just so smart out there. I mean, he was controlling the play, and it’s really good to see.”

Here’s more from the win.

1. Compared to Saturday’s five-goal outburst, the Sabres were less fortunate in the early going against Anaheim.

A promising offensive-zone shift for the third line ended with a net-front interference penalty on Jordan Greenway, and a questionable hooking call on Rasmus Dahlin gave the Ducks a lengthy 5-on-3. Mason McTavish capitalized, and Anaheim led 1-0 just three minutes in.

Buffalo tilted the ice during the remainder of the period, leading 10-5 in shots, 32-14 in shot attempts and 7-3 in high-danger chances through 20 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick. Both Quinn and Dahlin hit the post on the Sabres’ first power play.

Shots evened out in the second period with seven apiece, but the Ducks doubled their lead with an early power-play goal by Leo Carlsson. The two-goal deficit set the stage for Buffalo’s third-period comeback.

“I’d say that three months ago, it would’ve been a 5-1 loss, honestly,” Tuch said, praising the Sabres for persevering through two frustrating periods. “You just see the maturity, you see the change, you see no one was down. We were pushing each other, we were pressing each other, we were making sure each other were held accountable … and it was awesome.”

“Early in the year, we didn’t handle that very well,” Ruff echoed. “We’d probably ramp it up a little bit too soon, and all of a sudden it’s probably three or four for them, and we’re chasing the game. I thought we stayed with it. I think it shows some of the growth of the club.”

2. Like Tuch, Jason Zucker played after missing Monday’s practice and being labeled a game-time decision. Saturday versus New York, the veteran forward struggled off the ice after blocking a shot with his foot.

Zucker got two shots on goal in 12:57 of ice time, which was eighth most among Sabres forwards. The third-period line adjustments saw him form a line with Ryan McLeod and Jiri Kulich.

“Blocked a shot, and was just hampered a little bit physically, but muscled his way through the game,” Ruff said.

Ruff added that Kulich, too, wasn’t at full strength after taking an errant puck to the face in the first period and returning 10 minutes later with a full-face shield. That contributed to Ruff’s decision to mix up his lines after 40 minutes.

“They stitched him up, he wasn’t breathing real well, so just decided to shake it up a little bit.”

3. The new-look forward groups included an imposing – yet highly skilled – trio of the 6-foot-4 Tuch, 6-foot-6 Greenway and 6-foot-6 Tage Thompson. It’s no surprise that Tuch and Thompson, with years of experience as linemates, displayed instant chemistry with an early third-period scoring chance.

Greenway, meanwhile, has drawn rave reviews in two games back from injury and fit right in alongside his tall teammates.

“He’s so good on the forecheck, so good defensively,” Tuch said. “I mean, it just makes it easier. He’s just a big body out there holding onto pucks, turning pucks over… he just sucks to play against.

“He’s so big, and he’s a good skater. He’s lanky, he’s smart and he plays with that grit, and it’s awesome. It’s contagious.”

4. The Sabres have now won six straight home games and are 9-2-0 at KeyBank Center since Christmas.

“I think when we play the right way, we play physical, we get the crowd behind us, they get loud and (it) gives us a lot of energy, which helps us a lot,” said Cozens. “We want it to be a tough place to play here in Buffalo, and I think we did that tonight.”

Up next

The Sabres hit the road to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.