Postgame Report | Buffalo's playoff push ends with loss to Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -There are no moral victories in the National Hockey League. When the season ends, there are 31 teams dealing with disappointment.
For the Buffalo Sabres, the sting of a 6-2 setback at the hands of the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night is soothed by the perspective that progress can be found in the details of growing together as a team.
"I can't say enough about these guys and the way that we continue to compete and the way that we figured out how we have to play to be successful," captain Kyle Okposo said. "We became an actual hockey team this year."

The Sabres have been playing with their backs up against a wall for weeks now. It's a fact they've known, and they went on a 7-1-1 run in the last nine games and made it all the way to game No. 80 with a chance at the playoffs.

"What we went through in the fight and the pressure was at a different level, it pushed that group to grow and identify with details and situational awareness," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Now they know they can play in the National Hockey League."
Tuesday night's loss officially eliminated them from contention. There's a common phrase among coach speak that you learn more from losing than winning, but the Sabres have gathered plenty about themselves over the course of the last six weeks.
"There were moments within the regular season as specific as three weeks ago, we didn't handle that adversity very well and that challenge well," Granato said. "We filled our heads with a lot of self-doubt. We saw our way through it to the point where there's greater clarity on the details and the intensity that's needed to move forward."

What's also clear is that the Sabres appear to have found a promising presence in goal. Rookie Devon Levi made his fifth-straight start and made 24 saves.
"I think he is a player and a person that will take from any experience and maximize what you can take from it," Granato said. "I thought he was solid today from the standpoint of focus, from the standpoint of resilience and that's good."
The Sabres had the misfortune of digging themselves a 2-0 hole on goals by Jesper Boqvist and Jonas Siegenthaler. New Jersey successfully challenged an offsides call that wiped out a goal by JJ Peterka that would have cut the deficit in half in the second period before Jeff Skinner finally put the Sabres on the board.
The Sabres outshot the Devils 15-9 in the second period and led New Jersey in 5-on-5 high-danger scoring chances by a 7-4 margin, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"We had plenty of chances to convert, and enough to win," Granato said. "That game, at the end of the second we could've been up 3-1 instead of down 3-1, is the way we felt."
Miles Wood restored the Devils' two-goal lead and Tomas Tatar tallied 7:10 into the third period to put the Sabres behind 4-1, but Mattias Samuelsson kept Buffalo within striking distance with his second goal of the season at 13:55.
New Jersey added a pair of empty netters late to seal the Sabres fate.
"We don't have a lot of experience, so going through this experience, you have to unfortunately soak up the negative," Granato said. "A lot of things in life are learned through negative. Unfortunately, it's just the way people grow."

How it happened

FIRST PERIOD
The Sabres missed a chance to jump in front when Alex Tuch sprung free on a breakaway 2:33 into the game, but his backhand attempt was stopped by Vanecek.
New Jersey's Ryan Graves committed the game's first penalty when he was whistled for cross-checking at 7:32. The Sabres couldn't capitalize on the man advantage and didn't register a shot.
Boqvist put the Devils in front when he fired a shot from the left circle that bounced off Sabres defender Henri Jokiharju and past Levi at 11:42.
Levi stopped Tomas Tatar's snapshot after he snuck behind the Sabres defense to prevent the Devils from extending their lead with 2:56 to play.
Skinner tried to bank one off Vanecek's back with 21 second left but his shot missed.
SECOND PERIOD
The Sabres outshot the Devils 15-9 in the second period and led New Jersey in high-danger scoring chances by a 7-4 margin but fell behind by a pair of goals.
Siegenthaler put New Jersey up 2-0 just 1:06 into the second period when he took a drop pass from Nico Hischier and one-timed it through traffic past Levi.
Zemgus Girgensons nearly cut the deficit in half at 4:33 when he bolted past Devils defenseman Luke Hughes, who was making his NHL debut, and took a feed from Owen Power, but Vanecek stopped him from the top of the crease.
One minute later, Peterka appeared to give the Sabres their first goal of the game, but the Devils challenged the play and it was ruled offside following video review.
Buffalo finally broke through when Skinner put the Sabres on the board with his 34th goal of the season at 6:55. Skinner took a cross-crease pass from Mittelstadt and backhanded it into a wide-open net.

New Jersey went back up by two goals less than three minutes later when Wood pounced on a rebound and shot the puck past Levi to make the score 3-1 at 9:28.
The Sabres closed out the second period killing off a Rasmus Dahlin tripping penalty. Levi punctuated the PK with an exclamation point when he robbed Hischier with 1:44 to play with an incredible glove save.
THIRD PERIOD
Buffalo began the third period by killing off a Peyton Krebs tripping penalty 3:20 into the final period. Girgensons had a shorthanded scoring chance but couldn't beat Vanecek one minute into Krebs' minor.
Tatar extended the Devils lead to 4-1 when he scored from the left circle at 7:10.
Buffalo pulled to within two goals when Samuelsson wired a wrist shot from the right circle with 6:45 to play for his second goal of the season.

The Sabres wound up with a power play with 5:04 left and pulled Levi for a 6-on-4 advantage, but the Devils killed it off. Tatar eventually buried an empty netter with 2:32 left and then Hughes scored on an empty net of his own with 1:45 remaining.

What we learned

1. Mittelstadt's assist on Skinner's second period goal gives him points in four straight games (3+3). It marks his fifth point streak of four or more games in his career.
   2. Tuch's secondary assist on Skinner's goal gives him a four-game assist streak, tied for the second-longest assist streak of his career. He also recorded at least one assist in four consecutive games from January 21 to 26 this season.

Up next

The Sabres return to Buffalo for their last home game of the season on Thursday night when they host the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center.
Thursday night is also Fan Appreciation Night, where the first 15,000 fans will receive a free T-shirt courtesy of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, among other giveaways throughout the night.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. on MSG. Tickets are on sale now.
Buffalo will close out the season on Friday in Columbus.