At the Horn

The Buffalo Sabres came up short in Monday’s back-and-forth contest at Climate Pledge Arena, losing 6-4 to the Seattle Kraken.

Buffalo overcame a two-goal deficit in the second period before falling behind once again. Quick responses were the story of the afternoon for the Kraken, who on three occasions matched Sabres goals within a minute.

Tage Thompson (1+1), Jason Zucker (1+1) and Peyton Krebs (0+2) had multi-point games for Buffalo, with Jack Quinn, and Alex Tuch scoring the Sabres’ other goals. Forward Jiri Kulich, returning from a lower-body injury for his first game since Jan. 6, skated 16:26 and tallied a game-high six shots on goal.

Sabres goaltender Devon Levi made his first NHL appearance since Dec. 15 and made 28 saves on 33 shots.

Jared McCann had a goal and two assists while John Hayden, Chandler Stephenson, Matty Beniers, Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson also scored for Seattle. Ryker Evans tallied a pair of assists, and goalie Joey Daccord stopped 25 of 29 shots.

The Sabres went 1-for-3 on the power play and killed one of two shorthanded situations.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Quinn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 5:07, tossing a shot from the center of the blue line that redirected off McCann and past Daccord.

But the Kraken responded just 26 seconds later as Hayden collected a rebound in the slot and beat Levi on the glove side.

Seattle took a 2-1 lead on Stephenson’s goal at 11:06. The Kraken maintained possession after a dump-in, made a couple passes in front and found an open Stephenson at the right circle.

On a late-period 2-on-1, Levi pushed across to his right and denied Andre Burakovsky of a third Kraken goal. Buffalo responded with a 2-on-1 of its own in the final minute but Daccord stopped Connor Clifton’s wide-angle shot.

The Sabres tallied 12 first-period shots on goal – including three in the final 80 seconds – to Seattle’s 10, but the Kraken held a 7-3 edge in high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Jack Quinn opens the scoring

Second Period

Beniers’ opening-shift net drive induced a slashing call on Kulich, giving Seattle the game’s first power play.

Beck Malenstyn had a shorthanded breakaway but couldn’t get much of a shot off through Vince Dunn’s backcheck. Kaapo Kakko hit the post behind Levi for the Kraken’s best chance on an unsuccessful man advantage.

Shortly after, Quinn drew a holding call in the offensive-zone corner. The Sabres recorded two shots on the power play, which ended a couple seconds early due to a Zach Benson hooking penalty.

Seattle capitalized on its second power play and extended its lead to 3-1 as Beniers ripped a shot from the slot at 6:41.

Mattias Samuelsson drew a hook to give Buffalo its second man advantage, and at 9:31, Zucker tipped Rasmus Dahlin’s one timer through Daccord to bring the Sabres back within one. It marked Zucker’s ninth power-play goal – tied for sixth most in the NHL.

And Thompson tied it 3-3 at 15:38. He maintained possession through traffic at the blue line, skated to the top of the right circle and rang the far post for his 20th of the season. He now has four straight seasons of 20 or more goals.

Seattle once again answered quickly; just 56 seconds after Thompson’s goal, Oleksiak stepped up and blasted home a one timer to restore the Kraken’s one-goal lead.

Buffalo led 7-2 in high-danger chances during the eventful second period.

Jason Zucker scores on the power play

Tage Thompson scores his 20th of the season

Third Period

Dylan Cozens drew a hooking call while speeding through the neutral zone to give the Sabres their third power play. They came up empty this time, though.

The Kraken extended their lead to 5-3 at 10:25 courtesy of Larsson, whose one timer redirected off Thompson and through Levi’s five hole.

Buffalo pulled Levi with 2:20 remaining and Tuch scored at 18:39, pouncing on a loose puck in the crease to make it a 5-4 game. But McCann fired in an empty-net goal 17 seconds later to secure the Seattle victory.

Alex Tuch brings the Sabres within one

FINAL | Kraken 6 - Sabres 4

UP NEXT

The Sabres continue their four-game road trip Tuesday night versus the Vancouver Canucks.

Coverage on MSG begins at 9:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 10.