At the Horn | Sabres 4 - Golden Knights 3 (SO)

Rasmus Dahlin scored the game-tying goal with 13.6 seconds remaining in regulation and the Buffalo Sabres went on to win 4-3 over the Vegas Golden Knights in a shootout at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Dahlin’s tying goal came less than three minutes after Jack Eichel had scored to put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2. Buffalo previously trailed 2-0 before goals from Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 16 saves and made two more in the shootout, which was decided on Alex Tuch’s goal in the third round.

Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev scored goals for Vegas. Adin Hill stopped 34 of 37 shots.

Buffalo was without forwards Josh Norris (undisclosed) and JJ Peterka (lower body) and also lost Jiri Kulich to a second-period injury following a hit to the head by Howden.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

The Sabres outshot the Golden Knights 12-7 during the opening period but fell behind on Howden’s goal with 7:53 remaining.

Tanner Pearson set up Howden’s goal on the rush, sending a pass across the Buffalo net that banked in off Howden’s skate at the back door.

Buffalo nearly tied the game on the very next shift when a Mattias Samuelsson shot from the point deflected wide off the post.

Second Period

A pair of fights preceded the two teams trading goals, which resulted in the Golden Knights carrying a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

The first fight happened in response to Howden’s hit on Kulich, which knocked Kulich’s helmet off and left him injured on the ice. Peyton Krebs immediately shook off his gloves and fought Howden, receiving a 10-minute misconduct and a two-minute retaliation minor in addition to a fighting major. Howden only received a five-minute fighting major.

Buffalo killed off the penalty against Krebs, with a second fight between Jordan Greenway and Keegan Kolesar following soon after.

Dorofeyev increased Vegas’ lead to 2-0 with 7:54 left to play in the period, burying a loose puck behind Luukkonen after his initial shot was blocked by Owen Power.

McLeod responded for the Sabres just seven seconds later. Jacob Bryson delivered a stretch pass through the neutral zone to send McLeod over the blue line and McLeod beat Hill five-hole from the left faceoff dot.

Third Period

A tripping call drawn by Clifton against Dorofeyev preceded Zucker’s game-tying goal on the power play with 10:07 remaining.

McLeod helped create Zucker’s goal by affecting an attempted breakout pass from Alex Pietrangelo. The pass went directly to Zucker, who buried a shot from the slot for his team-leading 10th power-play goal of the season.

Eichel buried a rebound to put Vegas ahead 3-2 with 2:33 remaining, setting the stage for Dahlin’s late-game heroics. Bowen Byram raced to a loose puck high in the offensive zone and passed to Dahlin, who buried his one-timer from the point with 13.6 seconds on the clock.

Overtime

Luukkonen made a toe save to stop Eichel on a breakaway and usher the game to a shootout.

Shootout

Victor Olofsson scored on the opening attempt for Vegas, but Luukkonen rebounded with stops on Eichel and Dorofeyev.

Jack Quinn buried a backhand attempt on Buffalo’s second attempt, then Tuch scored the shootout winner with a move to his forehand that fooled Hill and opened the right side of the net.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

PHOTO GALLERIES

POSTGAME SOUND

UP NEXT

The Sabres open a four-game road trip in Boston on Monday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.