Sabres continue to battle adversity in loss to Avalanche

DENVER - Rasmus Dahlin arrived in Denver just prior to game time, waited on the results of a COVID-19 test and took the ice midway through warmups. Tage Thompson hoped to play through soreness for a second straight night but could not get the green light. Casey Mittelstadt sustained an injury during the first period.
Adversity continued to snowball for the Sabres during their 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, but it did not deter them in a game that was closer than the score suggested.
"We battled hard," Dylan Cozens said. "I think that second period, first 10 minutes was some of the best hockey we've played. With everything going on, I'm proud of how we played today."

Cozens scored Buffalo's lone goal during the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit. Colorado regained the lead when Alex Newhook appeared to swat a rebound out of midair in the direction of linemate Dylan Sikura, who fed Nazem Kadri for the go-ahead goal.
Sabres coach Don Granato challenged the play, believing Newhook's motion constituted an illegal hand pass. The challenge was unsuccessful, and Mikko Rantanen extended the Avalanche lead to 3-1 with a one-time shot on the ensuing power play.
The Sabres pushed back in the third period, outshooting the Avalanche 13-6 despite adding Victor Olofsson to their list of injured players after he took a high stick to the face. Valeri Nichushkin ended their comeback bid with an empty-net goal.
"The guys gutted it out," Dustin Tokarski said. "It's a loss, for sure you want the two points but, man, a heck of a hockey game by our guys start to finish. Just goes to show it's a good group in there. It was a bounce or two from going the other way and us winning that game. A credit to all the guys."
The Sabres were 24 hours removed from a 3-1 win in Arizona, a game that was preceded by three players and five staff members entering COVID-19 protocol due to tests that were later confirmed to be false positives. Dahlin and Olofsson, two of the players who missed the game against the Coyotes, arrived in Colorado shortly before the contest.
They were tasked with facing an Avalanche team that entered having won nine straight games overall and 17 straight at home.

"We said we're going to get better and better as the game went, and I think our guys picked up the feel of the game, the pace of the game with the intent we'll play a game to win," Granato said. "I love that intent tonight. we played to win. We did not sit back and wait.
"This team is the top team in the NHL right now, we're not. You guys (in the media) know, everything said about it, the expectations coming into the game were not that we could give them a game. We wanted to make sure we corrected that."

Injury updates

Granato listed Thompson as a game-time decision when he met with the media pregame. Thompson sustained an injury during the first period against Arizona on Saturday but finished the game. He is considered day to day.
"He just couldn't get there before the game," Granato said. "The injury he had, he played last night through it, and it was tight. He could've potentially played through it tonight if it didn't inhibit stride and skating. But it was, it still got to that point."
Mittelstadt did not return following the first intermission. He has appeared in seven games this season, having missed two separate stretches with upper-body injuries.
"No update on Casey," Granato said. "We knew a back-to-back would be tough. It was unfortunate he wasn't comfortable in the moves he was trying and then probably pulled out early because of precaution. I don't have any word on it yet."

Tokarski returns

Tokarski made his first start since entering COVID-19 protocol on Dec. 2. He had practiced on and off since Dec. 27 but had not played due to lingering symptoms of the virus.
He made 32 saves.
"Felt awesome," he said. "I love playing with those guys so it worked out nicely to get back. It was a lot of fun out there tonight."

Advancing the game

Kedryn Orrison Pilgrim, an assistant athletic trainer with the Rochester Americans, joined the Sabres' training staff for the game. She is believed to be the third woman to work behind an NHL bench, according to the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society.

"That is awesome," Granato said. "She is very, very deserving. Obviously, she wouldn't be here if she didn't do a great job. It's fun, I was just informed that she was only the third female behind the bench. That's not enough because there's so many qualified. But it's great that she can kind of lead in that, be a leader and a pioneer in that category. It was neat for us to be a part of that as well."

Up next

The Sabres visit the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. It will be the team's final game before the All-Star break.
The game will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. The puck drops at 10 p.m.