Sabres unable to capitalize on chances in loss to blues

Lindy Ruff pointed to a first-period sequence as an embodiment of the Buffalo Sabres’ 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

The Sabres, on their first power play of the night in a scoreless first period, nearly took the lead when Jack Quinn attempted a between-the-legs shot from in close. Blues goaltender Joel Hofer robbed Josh Doan on the ensuing rebound attempt from point-blank range.

The very next shift – still shorthanded – Mathieu Joseph forced a turnover at the St. Louis blue line and sped down the ice for a breakaway goal, giving the Blues a lead they would never relinquish.

“We missed some early opportunities that I think could have changed the game,” Ruff said. “Probably the best one was the Doan opportunity on the power play. We put that in, we’re not talking about a shorthanded goal (against).”

Such was the story on Thursday for the Sabres, who outshot the Blues 28-17 but never solved Hofer nor a desperate, shot-blocking Blues defense. The loss snapped a seven-game point streak for the Sabres, who had gone 3-0-4 in that span.

The Blues entered the game on the heels of a lopsided loss in Washington on Wednesday, which saw Hofer allow two goals after replacing starter Jordan Binnington midway through the second period. St. Louis channeled its frustration into a committed defensive performance, blocking 19 shots in front of Hofer and limiting Buffalo to the outside on three power-play tries.

“I’ll give them some credit, they did a pretty darn good job of being in shot lanes and blocking shots,” Ruff said.

Still, the Sabres managed their share of chances. Hofer made a quick glove save on Michael Kesselring in the final seconds of the first period to hold the score at 1-0. He stopped a point-blank attempt from Alex Tuch in the second period.

When the Sabres did beat Hofer, he had help from the iron surrounding him. Rasmus Dahlin sent one shot off the post midway through the second period, then another off the crossbar in the third. Tuch also ripped a shot off the post as the Sabres pushed for a late comeback.

“I hate to talk about luck and (being) unlucky,” Dahlin said. “You got to earn your goals, and today it wasn’t going in. So maybe some more guys hit the net, distracting the goalie a little bit more. Yeah, should’ve scored a couple more.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his third start of the season and allowed two goals on 16 shots faced. Nick Bjugstad extended the St. Louis lead to 2-0 on a shot from atop the left faceoff circle early in the second period. Luukkonen said he lost the puck as Dahlin extended his stick to defend the shot.

“I’ve got to save that,” Luukkonen said. “I don’t know what the right word for it is, but I didn’t catch it or didn’t see it clean. Our D-man’s stick was there, he played it right, that’s how you have to play it. But sometimes that fools you and it kind of handcuffed me, so, not happy about it. I guess it’s not as easy a situation as it looks.”

Buffalo outshot St. Louis 12-5 in the third period, but the Blues sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Justin Faulk.

The Sabres were missing five opening night starters at forward for the second straight game. The list of absentees included their top-line center (Josh Norris), their assist leader (Zach Benson), and two of their top goal-scoring threats (Jason Zucker and Jiri Kulich).

None of the five players are expected back in time for Saturday’s game in Carolina, when the Sabres will be tasked with earning a road win against one of the league's premier defensive teams.

“[The Hurricanes] don’t give up a lot, so when we get our opportunities, we’re gonna have to bear down and we’re gonna have to put some in the back of the net,” Tuch said.

“I liked our compete (tonight). I thought we were playing fast. I thought we were the better team tonight. They were able to lock it down, block some shots and get some big saves from the goalie.”

Here’s more from the loss.

Adjustments to power-play personnel

Injuries to the Sabres’ forward group have forced personnel changes on the power play, which fell to 0-for-8 over the past three games.

Buffalo’s top unit – missing Zucker and Benson – included Quinn and rookie Isak Rosen alongside regulars Doan, Dahlin, and Tage Thompson.

“We got new bodies, new guys in new positions,” Dahlin said. “We’re trying to figure it out. A lot of guys injured. Obviously, don’t want to talk about guys who are out, but I think we just got to build our own chemistry, and we have work on it.”

Kozak returns

Tyson Kozak returned to the lineup after missing five games with a lower-body injury. He skated 10:10 and registered four hits while centering a line with Quinn and Jordan Greenway.

Up next

The Sabres visit Carolina on Saturday to begin a stretch of four straight road games. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.