Sabres come away with hard-fought point in OT loss to Leafs

TORONTO – Tage Thompson weighed the disappointment of a lost point against the promise the Buffalo Sabres continued to show in Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

The Sabres fell to the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime, but the ingredients of their strong recent play remained intact. They held their opponent to 22 shots with tight, persistent checking. Both special teams units continued to excel. Physicality was met with timely responses.

All in all, the Sabres left Toronto having earned three out of four possible points from their home-and-home set against the Maple Leafs. They’re 4-1-1 in their last six games overall.

“I liked our game, and I think we’ve got to continue to do the things that are getting us to this point,” Thompson said. “Obviously you want the two points, but overall, we can be really happy with our effort in the last two games.”

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Buffalo was dealt another dose of injury adversity to start the day. The team planned for Colten Ellis – fresh off an impressive NHL debut earlier this week – to start the game. Ellis was even sent to Toronto on Friday ahead of his teammates to get a good night’s rest.

Ellis woke up Saturday morning experiencing discomfort in his back, however, prompting a change of plans in goal.

“He tried to go and then we realized it was probably not the right idea,” Ruff said.

The Sabres instead turned to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make his season debut. Luukkonen had played a conditioning assignment game with Rochester earlier in the week but had otherwise been without game action since sustaining a lower-body injury in the preseason.

Despite the late change of plans, the Sabres rallied around Luukkonen and played their way to a third-period lead. Thompson scored a pair of goals, the second of which came on the power play to put them ahead 3-2 with 12:54 left to play.

Dakota Joshua tied the game for Toronto with 6:50 remaining on a shot taken from high in the left circle – one of just five shots allowed by the Sabres during the third period.

“I kind of missed the release on that one,” Luukkonen said. “But … you have to find the puck. It’s not an excuse that you don’t see the puck. You can’t think like that. So, just got to play that one better and probably would’ve got an extra point tonight.”

The Sabres had chances to win the game in overtime, including a shot from Rasmus Dahlin that was stopped by goalie Cayden Primeau and an attempted 2-on-1 pass from Jack Quinn to Thompson that hit off a defender’s skate.

John Tavares went the other way off that rush and ended the game on a breakaway 1:28 into the extra period.

Though the final result was disappointing, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff echoed his players in commending the team performance – particularly in contrast to their most recent road game, another tightly contested loss in Montreal on Monday.

In that game, the Sabres felt they were hesitant. They were the aggressors in Toronto, supporting the puck and consistently applying pressure to stymie a high-scoring offense.

“We played the game as well as you could play in the third period,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “The goal we give up was the only chance of the period.

“… Getting three of four points is good. I think the way we played is a big step for us, playing on the road and making sure you get points. Points are important.”

Here’s more from the overtime loss.

Tuch answers the bell

A high hit from Jake McCabe on Bowen Byram during the second period drew a response from Alex Tuch, who immediately confronted the former Sabres defenseman. McCabe delivered a right hook while Tuch worked to remove his glove, but the message from Tuch stood.

“Just want to stand up for my teammate and make it known that we’re not going to get pushed around, you’re gonna have to answer,” Tuch said.

“Obviously I was the one doing the answering – wasn’t able to get my glove off and then kind of got into a nice right hook by McCabe there, but not afraid to do it. I know guys in here aren’t afraid to do it, stand up for one another. That’s the type of team we are, that’s how closely knit we are, and that’s what we’re going to do going forward.”

McCabe was not penalized for his hit on Byram and only received a five-minute fighting major from the play in total. Tuch received a fighting major along with both a two-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct for instigating, leaving the Sabres without one of their key players for 17 minutes.

“I looked at it, I thought it was a headshot (on Byram),” Ruff said. “I really thought that there should’ve been no instigator because [McCabe] dropped his gloves even before Tuchy had dropped his. You watch it live, it’s hard. [We] get to slow it down. I know they took a hard look at it. It’s not an easy call. Not a play you like.”

Tuch and Byram got a bit of revenge late in the second period. With the Sabres trailing 2-1, Tuch crashed the Toronto net alongside Josh Doan, allowing Byram to bury the tying goal from high in the zone.

A strong night from the Thompson line

The trio of Thompson, Jiri Kulich and Zach Benson continued their strong play in the offensive zone. The Sabres led 12-5 in shot attempts with their line on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Thompson – after scoring a goal on Friday – opened the scoring with a hard shot on the rush, set up by a cross-ice pass from Kulich. The line nearly got another even-strength goal from Kulich, but it was disallowed due to goaltender interference called against Benson.

Thompson added his second goal of the night on the power play, upping his season total to four – tied with Jason Zucker for the team lead.

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. It will be Buffalo Bills Night at KeyBank Center, featuring appearances from Bills alumni and personalities. Find out more about the game here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6 p.m. The puck drops at 6:45.