Postgame Report | Buffalo closes out homestand with loss to Vancouver

Jeff Skinner scored twice and Alex Tuch added a goal and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres fell to the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 5-4 Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
Casey Mittelstadt tallied his fourth goal of the season while Tage Thompson recorded two assists to extend his point streak to five games.
Goaltender Craig Anderson made 27 saves in net as Buffalo lost its sixth game in a row.

"Too easy out of the gate," head coach Don Granato said. "That is a big lesson that needs to be learned now. Period.
"…They were willing to work harder out of the gate, they showed more determination out of the gate, and we were on our heels until we could not get on our heels."
Granato thought that the Canucks set the tempo early on and that the Sabres did not drive the play until it was too late.
"We'll push through it," Granato said. "They learn from their mistakes, this group. They'll learn from this. This will make them better, but it doesn't lessen any disappointment.
"These are games that were right there, so you should have the expectation to win, and with the expectation to win, you should have that determination right at puck drop at 7 o'clock."

Tuch said after the game that he felt there wasn't a sense of urgency until the third period.
"It took us a little bit too long to push back. I wish we had done it probably halfway through the first or in the second, but it's a learning process," Tuch said. "Just trying to stay up, stay positive and keep pushing guys. I think guys in here are really hard on themselves. It's good to keep yourself accountable, but you also have to work and play your game and not let it get into your head."

Although Skinner agreed that Buffalo didn't match Vancouver's intensity, he praised Tuch's determination over the course of the game.
"Tuchy, I thought, probably played one of the better games I've seen him play," Skinner said. "He was all over the ice. Not only the plays he was making but just on the forecheck he's disrupting plays and he played great for us tonight."

How it happened

PERIOD 1
Vancouver put the pressure on and outshot Buffalo 15-7 in the opening period.
The Canucks took an early 2-0 lead with goals from Dakota Joshua and Ethan Bear in a span of 1:17.
The Sabres answered back with 8:45 remaining as Rasmus Dahlin brought the puck deep into the offensive zone and sent a pass across the crease to Skinner for his fourth goal of the year.

PERIOD 2
The Canucks extended their lead 31 seconds in on a deflection in front of the net by Elias Pettersson.
Under a minute later, Skinner ripped a shot off the goal post. It didn't take him long to tally his second of the night after Thompson toe-dragged around Oliver Ekman-Larsson and set up Skinner with a nearly wide-open net at the 3:43 mark.

The Canucks struck twice more with power-play goals from J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser before Tuch deflected an Owen Power shot from the point into the back of the net, cutting the Vancouver lead to 5-3 with 8:48 remaining.

PERIOD 3
Casey Mittelstadt hit the top right corner of the net from Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs with 7:58 remaining to put Buffalo within one.

Despite outshooting the Canucks 15-5 in the third, Vancouver held strong to seal the deal.

What we learned

1. Thompson extended his point streak to five games with two assists against the Canucks. Thompson now has seven points (4+3) in the past five contests and 18 points (10+8) in his last nine games.
   2. In his 15 appearances this season, Dahlin has recorded at least a point in all but two games for the Sabres. Dahlin currently ranks second on the team with 18 points (7+11) in the campaign, behind Thompson with 21 points.
   3. With one goal and two assists on Tuesday, Tuch recorded his third multi-point game of the season.
   4. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju played in his first game since sustaining a facial injury in the first period versus Calgary on October 20. In his return, Jokiharju logged 18:14 minutes of ice time with two shots and two blocks.
   5. Forward Riley Sheahan made his season debut after being recalled from Rochester this morning. Sheahan centered the fourth line alongside Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Asplund. Kyle Okposo and Jack Quinn missed the game due to injuries.
   6. Tuesday marked the final meeting between the Canucks and Sabres this season. The teams split the series 1-1 as the Sabres picked up a 5-1 win in their last meeting on October 22 in Vancouver.

Up next

The Sabres kick off a three-game road swing Wednesday night against Ottawa.
Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.