Sabres earn hard-fought point in OT loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. – Owen Power described the general feeling in the Buffalo Sabres’ dressing room after a hard-fought contest with the Carolina Hurricanes ended as a 3-2 overtime loss.

“I mean, it’s nice we at least got a point but everyone in here wants to win every night,” Power said. “So, it’s tough to not come away with that extra point.”

The Sabres erased two deficits in regulation on the strength of goals from Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin and received a 24-save performance from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. They nearly won the game when Tuch sent a shot off the crossbar on the opening shift of overtime.

Instead, it was Martin Necas who buried the winner for Carolina on a tap-in opportunity at the edge of the blue paint to end what had been a contested game in a difficult road environment.

“We talked about it this morning, what a great atmosphere this is,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Has a real playoff atmosphere feel, a lot of intensity, and I thought our guys responded very well to it to the point that there’s a bitter taste in their mouth. They know they can play better even.

“There’s plenty of good things and also plenty of things we can make adjustments on.”

Much like their victory in Toronto on Saturday, the Sabres showed a propensity to respond to adversity. They outshot the Hurricanes 6-1 to start the game but fell behind when Tony DeAngelo scored a power-play goal that glided in off a defender’s stick.

Tuch – who scored twice in the win over the Maple Leafs – tied the score 1-1 early in the second period, pouncing on Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis to force a turnover in front of the Carolina net and then burying his own rebound off the pad of goaltender Antti Raanta.

The Hurricanes regained the lead with 12:06 remaining in the third period when Sebastian Aho found a seam to set up a Brady Skjei one-timer. The Sabres had even quicker response this time, with Tyson Jost drawing a boarding penalty and Dahlin scoring a power-play goal all within the next 89 seconds.

Dahlin – with the power play struggling to cross the offensive blue line with possession – dumped the puck in behind the penalty killers, chased it down himself, and buried a shot off the far-side post.

The Sabres finished the game with a 9-8 edge in high-danger chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, a testament to a defensive effort that weathered storms by keeping shots to the outside.

“It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but I think we locked it down defensively to get the one point at least,” Luukkonen said. “So, there’s some good things and some things we need to improve on.”

Here’s more from the overtime loss.

1. Luukkonen made a blocker save to stop Jack Drury on a shorthanded breakaway during the first period.

“I think that was a big one, just to make that save and keep the game tight at that point,” he said. “It’s a great way to kind of start the game and get yourself into it when you feel like you helped the team.”

2. The Sabres elevated Ryan Johnson to the top defense pair alongside Dahlin in his second NHL game. Johnson had a plus-1 rating in 19:26 and was among the players on the ice for an offensive-zone faceoff coming out of a timeout with 1:56 remaining.

“I thought Ryan Johnson was really good,” Granato said. “It was his first time in this building and second game in the NHL, we’re playing him late in the game – in a 2-2 game – and he’s coming through for us. So, a heck of a job by him.”

3. Mittelstadt earned an assist on Dahlin’s goal to extend his point streak to four games.

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Minnesota Wild on Friday. It will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night at KeyBank Center, presented by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Find more information on the night – including special offers, a pregame ceremony, and concourse activities – here.

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