Sabres can’t solve Bussi in 2-1 loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. – Overaggressive penalty killing by Carolina created a 2-on-0 chance for the Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker in the second period. Thompson passed to Zucker, Zucker back to Thompson, but Hurricanes goalie Brandon Bussi made a terrific glove save to rob Thompson of his 26th goal of the season.

"Felt like I had the whole net," Thompson said, "and his glove came out of nowhere."

That proved to be the story of Monday afternoon at Lenovo Center: great scoring chances but poor results in a 2-1 Sabres loss.

“You’ve got to give credit to their goalie – that’s why they won the game today,” said Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. “We created, and their goalie made some Grade-A [saves] that you don’t see often.”

Dahlin opened the scoring just 1:33 into the game with a beautiful shot on the rush, his seventh goal of the season, but that was one of only three Sabres shots in the period. Carolina, characteristically, dominated puck possession from that point on, with 12 shots including Andrei Svechnikov’s tying goal.

“We always know they come with a heavy push, first 10-15 minutes,” Dahlin said. “When you get by that, you can start playing.”

Indeed, Buffalo leveled the ice in the second period but ran into a new obstacle in Bussi, whose period included the glove save on Thompson, a sliding stop on a Dahlin one-timer and a helmet save on Owen Power in the slot, among others.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who finished with 26 saves on 28 shots, was just as good at the other end in the second. His biggest save of the period denied Alexander Nikishin on a partial breakaway, so they were tied 1-1 through 40 minutes.

Early in the third period, Owen Power’s light shove on Logan Stankoven was called for tripping, and it took just seven seconds on the power play for Carolina’s Seth Jarvis to score the go-ahead goal.

“I didn’t like the call. It’s so minimal, with what was going on in the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “But we need to kill that off.”

The Sabres made a strong push for a tying goal in the back half of the period, especially in the final minute with Luukkonen pulled. An extended wall battle popped out to an open Thompson at the left circle, but Bussi saved Thompson’s initial shot with 19 seconds remaining, plus the series of attempts that followed.

Bussi made 17 straight saves after Dahlin scored on Buffalo’s first shot of the afternoon. Six came on high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Considering their quality of opportunities, strong forechecking effort and the questionable penalty that led to Carolina’s game-winning goal, the Sabres won’t let themselves be too discouraged by their fourth loss in the last six weeks.

“That was hard compete by both teams,” Ruff said. “It was a hard hockey game, and I thought that last 40, we pushed through.”

Added Thompson: “I think it helps with our schedule that we have so much hockey, there’s really no time to sit and think about it. I think we come in the locker room after that loss, and you can look yourself in the mirror and be happy with how you played. Obviously, sucks not getting the results, but I thought we played hard, and we’ve just got to play the same way tomorrow against Nashville.”

Here's more from the loss.

Helenius debuts

Forward Konsta Helenius, drafted 14th overall in 2024, made his NHL debut for the Sabres, skating 10:47 with one shot attempt.

The 19-year-old was most noticeable on the forecheck. A few times, his stickwork along the wall intercepted Hurricanes clearing attempts and extended offensive-zone shifts for Buffalo.

He would’ve picked up his first career assist if not for Bussi’s save on Dahlin’s second-period one-timer.

Dahlin and Svechnikov

The first-period goal scorers, Dahlin and Svechnikov, were physically engaged all afternoon – a roughing penalty here, a punch there, etc.

Dahlin finished with two minor penalties, Svechnikov with three, and this sort of nastiness between Eastern Conference playoff contenders came as no surprise to Buffalo’s captain.

“It’s big points, and you have come ready to compete,” he said.

Kesselring’s status

Defenseman Michael Kesselring returned from injured reserve to play Saturday, but a tweak of his ankle injury – this one goes back to mid-November – held him out of the lineup Monday.

“There’s a possibility he plays (Tuesday); it’s nothing that we think is too serious,” Ruff said.

Up next

The Sabres are back in action Tuesday night at the Nashville Predators. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST, with MSG’s pregame coverage starting at 7:30.