Sabres allow late lead to slip in OT loss to Red Wings

Tyler Bertuzzi scored a pair of late goals to snatch a victory from the Buffalo Sabres, who fell 4-3 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
The Sabres led 3-1 when Bertuzzi scored his first goal with 6:36 remaining in regulation. He deked past the defense for the tying goal 90 seconds later. Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider scored his first NHL goal to win the game at 2:45 of overtime.
Buffalo was attempting to snap a three-game losing streak, an element that defenseman Rasmus Dahlin felt crept into the team's performance as it tried to nail down the victory.

"We really, really wanted to win," Dahlin said. "That maybe came in our head and forced some plays. Obviously, they did a great job there. But as time goes on, we got to work on it. We'll be better, for sure."

Sabres coach Don Granato echoed Dahlin's assessment. Bertuzzi crept into open space at the bottom edge of the right faceoff circle for his first goal, a one-time shot fed across by Danny DeKeyser.
"We just slid out of position and created, opened a seam, which is uncharacteristic," Granato said. "So, you could look at it, say we must have been tight. It could be the only explanation for it. Because it was a simple coverage that we've done over and over and over."
It was a breakdown in transition that led to the tying goal, which ended with Bertuzzi deking past Dahlin on a 1-on-1 rush and beating goaltender Dustin Tokarski in alone.
Dahlin took ownership for the goal, and Granato acknowledged that the defenseman made an aggressive play in an attempt to take the puck from Bertuzzi rather than forcing him to the outside. But Granato laid the lion's share of the blame on the breakdowns that led to the 1-on-1 situation in the first place.
"We vacated what we normally do up ice," Granato said. "We lost guys up ice and layers that I've talked about. When you lose the layers before Dahls, their player is able to generate a lot of speed with a huge gap. So, you're waiting for speed to come on you.
"So, we can sit here and try to hang Dahls on it. That player's coming and he can generate speed from 30 feet away and you're standing there flat-footed. We left Dahls in a very tough position and it was the layers in front of him that was the mistake."

Pius Suter scored just 16 seconds into the contest to give the Red Wings an early 1-0 lead. The Sabres surged ahead on a pair of goals scored 1:04 apart in the second period. Tage Thompson scored the first on a give-and-go play with Jeff Skinner; Dahlin netted the second with a point shot on a power play.

Arttu Ruotsalainen scored to extend the lead to 3-1 at 6:08 of the third period.
"I did like that response," Granato said. "It was gradual to get back into the game. A lot of times, that's the case when you have a long road trip, especially when you go our west and you come home. It takes a little while to reorientate. I felt it did, but I felt the process of guys fighting through, pushing through was great."

Asplund extends his point streak

Rasmus Asplund tallied two assists to extend his career-best point streak to six games. He leads the Sabres with 10 points (4+6) in 11 games this season.

Celebrating Val James

The Sabres honored the 40th anniversary of Val James' debut, when he became the first American-born Black player to appear in an NHL game. Watch the video detailing his story below.

Local artist Edreys Wajed joined the broadcast to discuss his "Breaking Barries" design, which was featured on warmups jerseys worn by the Sabres as well as warmup pucks. The jerseys are up for auction here.](https://auctions.nhl.com/iSynApp/allAuction.action?sid=1100803&rc=25&pgmode1=profilepage&pgcust1=sabres&pgcust2=partner&pgcust3=panname_teamName_s&qt[0].type=openbrac&qt[1].type=openbrac&qt[2].type=fieldmatch&qt[2].name=panname_profileName_s&qt[2].value1=team&qt[3].type=operor&qt[4].type=fieldmatch&qt[4].name=panname_profileName_s&qt[4].value1=sabres&qt[5].type=closebrac&qt[6].type=operand&qt[7].type=fieldmatch&qt[7].name=panname_teamName_s&qt[7].value1=sabres&qt[8
Video: Local artist Edreys Wajed on pregame show

Up next

The Sabres will practice Sunday before heading to Washington for a game against the Capitals on Monday night. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.