‘Just too many turnovers’ | Sabres’ power-play errors prove costly in home loss to Vegas

After the first period, the Buffalo Sabres were controlling almost every metric against the Vegas Golden Knights – except for the scoreboard, which read 0-0.

But from there, things unraveled, and Vegas handed the Sabres a 4-1 loss at KeyBank Center on Sunday evening. After a scoreless first, the Golden Knights scored a pair of quick goals in the second period and added two more in the third to ice the game.

Buffalo is now 4-5-0 on home ice, a contrast from its 4-1-3 road record. And despite averaging 3.6 goals per game on the road, the Sabres score just over two goals per game at KeyBank Center.

Despite their 78 shot attempts in Sunday’s loss, only one found the back of the net, and the Sabres know that’s not nearly enough to win a game in today’s NHL.

“It’s always a challenge to win on the road, and we've taken a lot of pride in that. But we need to challenge ourselves equally to win at home,” said Beck Malenstyn, who had Buffalo’s lone goal in the third period. “When you can create an atmosphere that's hard to play in – I thought we did a really good job of that last year. When teams stepped into this building, they knew what they were going to get, and it wasn't going to be easy.

“And that comes from consistency. That comes from us being able to put the same brand of hockey on the ice every single night.”

The brand of hockey Buffalo played in the first period was just that – consistent. After 20 minutes, the Sabres had a 14-6 edge in shots on goal and a 20-4 edge in scoring chances, including seven high-danger chances to Vegas’ one, per Natural Stat Trick.

Buffalo even killed two penalties in the first period, stymying a Vegas man-advantage that ranked seventh in the NHL entering Sunday’s game.

Coach Lindy Ruff called it a “perfect period.”

But the Golden Knights did what they do best – they clogged the shooting lanes and disrupted offensive opportunities, blocking 28 shots in all. Buffalo’s only goal came from an ugly, scrambling play encroaching Vegas goalie Adin Hill’s crease – multiple players whacked at the puck before Malenstyn’s delivered the deciding jam that had the puck trickling through Hill.

It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. That’s what the Sabres know they must do to win hockey games – to not get bored of playing the right way. Especially against a stout team like Vegas, which allows fewer goals on average than most teams (2.63, after Sunday’s result).

“I think it's a great lesson,” Malenstyn said. “They’ve been a sound team for a lot of years for that reason, right? They're willing to win those games, and they basically wait on you to make mistakes. And I think we kind of fell victim to that tonight.”

Turnover trouble, power-play struggles

One particular mistake seemed to swing the game in Vegas’ favor – on a second-period power play, Tage Thompson looked to pass to Rasmus Dahlin, but was stripped by someone you don’t want breaking one-on-one on your goalie: Mitch Marner.

Marner executed a perfect shorthanded deke past Ellis, giving the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 12:17 of the middle frame. And just 34 seconds later, the culprit of Vegas’ penalty, Ivan Barbashev, came streaking out of the penalty box and won a board battle before sending a no-look pass to Jack Eichel, who beat Ellis to make it a 2-0 game.

“I think we started the game playing the right way, and then the second (period) starts with me,” Thompson said. “Just too many turnovers, kind of bled throughout the team. Just trying to get too cute at the line, giving them free offense, and then we’re chasing the game at that point.

“Kind of deflating. Kind of shot ourselves in the foot there.”

More than Marner’s goal, it was another difficult night for the Sabres’ man advantage, which went 0-for-3 and, per the team, did more harm than good. Buffalo struggled to generate chances and maintain possession on each of their power plays, and its best period – the first – didn’t involve any PP time.

Ruff’s assessment: “I think our power play took the wind right out of our sails.”

Ellis in net

Buffalo got yet another gem of a performance from Colten Ellis who, despite allowing four goals, made 22 saves and kept the Sabres within striking distance for most of the contest.

Ellis faced multiple odd-man rush attempts and breakaways. He made a particularly impressive breakaway stop on William Karlsson (also shorthanded) earlier in the second period to keep the game scoreless.

“We got a great save by Ellie on the first breakaway – on the breakaway and on the rebound,” Ruff said. “That should have been motivation to carry your group a little bit further right there.”

“We can’t give up two breakaways and a 2-on-1 and expect good things are going to happen,” Thompson said of the goals Vegas scored on Ellis. “We hung him out to dry, and he’s played good for us. I thought the first 30 (minutes) that we gave him was good, and we just collapsed on him.”

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres wrap up their homestand on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Puck drop for the division rivalry is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted nationally on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. Tickets are available here.