Sabres overcome slow start, lose to Columbus in overtime

The Buffalo Sabres held 2-1 and 3-2 leads in a back-and-forth contest with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they ultimately lost 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday at KeyBank Center.

Jiri Kulich couldn’t bury a breakaway early in the 3-on-3 period. A couple minutes later, Miles Wood drove to the net and redirected in the game winner for Columbus, handing Buffalo its second straight overtime defeat.

“I think if Kulich scores in overtime, we’re probably not even talking about what happened; we got the breakaway right away,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “… (We) failed on the 3-on-3 coverage. We’ve got to be better at that. We know it.”

The Sabres didn’t register their first shot on goal until 12:46 into the game – Columbus had eight shots and a Yegor Chinakhov goal at that point – but began tilting the ice late in the first period. As in their first two losses of the season, they didn’t get to their game quickly enough.

“I think we thought the game was a 7:18 start, and it was 6:45; unacceptable, the way we started,” Ruff said, crediting goalie Alex Lyon for keeping Buffalo in the game early.

“I thought we came to life with about five, six minutes left in the period, but when you’re not skating, you have no hands. Our passing was awful. We couldn’t make a 10-foot pass, we couldn’t make a 30-foot pass. When we got our legs going and started going north in a hurry, we started looking like a lot better team.”

Buffalo finally cracked goalie Jet Greaves midway through the second, when Josh Doan got a chance alone in front; he was initially denied but stuck with the loose puck to tie the game 1-1 – his third goal of the season.

Less than three minutes later, Ryan McLeod’s shot from the top of the circle – aided by a fortunate redirection off defenseman Damon Severson – gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead. A very even second period ended in a tie, though, after Zach Werenski’s power-play one-timer with 16 seconds remaining.

The Sabres’ go-ahead goal early in the third period resulted, in familiar fashion lately, from an offensive play by Mattias Samuelsson. The defenseman, now on a career-best four-game point streak, shot one into a crease full of Buffalo fourth liners. Peyton Krebs was in the mix, Beck Malenstyn got a touch and Josh Dunne pushed it in for a 3-2 Sabres lead.

It marked the first career goal and point for the 26-year-old Dunne, in his 20th NHL game.

“It was great work by my linemates; they’ve been awesome for me since I’ve been with them,” Dunne said. “They were working hard, won their battles, got the puck to the point, and then I got to the net and the puck was just laying there. Right place, right time, and it was a good bounce, for sure.”

But for a second straight game, Buffalo couldn’t hold onto a late one-goal lead. Wood, later the overtime hero, tied it with 6:05 remaining in regulation.

Although they’ve collected 10 of 14 possible points in their last seven games, the Sabres have squandered the extra point in two straight. Ruff feels they’ve improved – compared to last season – in their late-game defense, limiting odd-man rushes while not completely sagging back in their own zone. The results indicate it’s still a work in progress.

“We’ve got to learn how to defend leads at the end of games, because that’s a position that we, as a group, expect to be in late throughout the year,” Doan said. “Last seven (games) is obviously positive, and hopefully we can go find a way to get a win on the road.”

Here’s more from the overtime loss.

Fourth line goes to work

Buffalo’s fourth line had its most impactful performance of the season to date. With the Dunne-Krebs-Malenstyn trio deployed at 5-on-5, the Sabres led 8-4 in shots, 5-1 in high-danger scoring chances and 1-0 in goals (Dunne’s), per Natural Stat Trick. Nearly half their minutes came against the Blue Jackets’ highly skilled first line.

Their forechecking work helped energize the team late in the first period, and at the end of the second, they were in the middle of an extended, 10-man scrum that yielded a Buffalo power play.

“There’s always something that really activates the bench and gets you into it; I think tonight it was Dunne and Krebs and Malenstyn,” Ruff said. “That’s the type of shifts you need, and the energy, and the bonus is putting one in the back of the net.”

Dunne, especially, stood out with his physical play. He used his 6-foot-4 frame to his advantage, possessing pucks low in the offensive zone and, on multiple occasions, backing defenders down toward Greaves’ crease.

“I’m just trying to play to my strengths, and I think one of them is behind the net and puck protecting, so I try to do it as much as I possibly can,” Dunne said. “Honestly, I feel like I got big opportunities from my linemates working hard and getting me those pucks.”

Kesselring’s Sabres debut

Defenseman Michael Kesselring made his Sabres debut after missing the first nine games with an injury. Paired primarily with Bowen Byram, Kesselring skated 17:58 with three shots (on nine attempts) and one hit.

“Liked his game,” Ruff said. “I thought he started a little bit slow, but I thought really got his legs moving, moved the puck well, breakout passes. (Will) take a look when I go through it, but I thought for the most part, he skated well and executed well.”

“I think he’s just trusting his body coming off his injury, and he looked really good tonight,” added Doan. “But I can’t wait to see him get in gear here.”

Up next

The Sabres, seeking their first road win of the season, visit Boston on Thursday.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., with MSG’s pregame coverage beginning at 6:30.