Robin Lehner acknowledged all of these factors, but for him, the game boiled down to something much simpler.
"They played good. I don't think we played that well," the Sabres goaltender said.
In a game that was chippy right from the moment Nicolas Deslauriers fought Joseph Blandisi early in the first period, things escalated when Karl Stollery knocked the helmet off of Girgensons with a hard check into the boards (Girgensons would later do the same thing to Stollery). The hit prompted Kane to retaliate against the Devils defenseman, and Kane ended up receiving four minutes for roughing while New Jersey's Stephen Santini only served two.
Adam Henrique banked a puck off of Sabres defenseman Cody Franson and into the net on the ensuing power play to give the Devils a 1-0 a lead 8:46 into the period.
Girgensons said he didn't believe that Kane deserved the extra two minutes for his actions, and Sabres coach Dan Bylsma seemed to agree.
"Evander's going in there for his teammate," Bylsma said. "That's something we like to see.
"I don't necessarily agree with all the calls tonight," he said later.
Henrique's goal came on New Jersey's second power play of the night. The Devils were on their fourth power play when Pavel Zacha scored the game-winning goal on a rebound in the third period, breaking the 1-1 tie that the Sabres had earned a few minutes prior thanks to a spin-o-rama goal from Tyler Ennis.
Bylsma challenged for goalie interference when it appeared a New Jersey stick made contact with Lehner's glove as he attempted to catch the initial shot, freeing the puck and creating the rebound opportunity for Zacha. Officials ruled otherwise.
"It's a puck above the crossbar, Robin goes up to catch it and their guy puts his stick into it and I think prevents Robin from catching the puck," Bylsma said. "Yes, the puck gets spit back out and there's a second shot so there's no interference on the second shot but without the stick there, I think Robin catches the puck."
Lehner said he agreed with the decision to challenge the play, but he wasn't willing to blame the goal on the contact made with his glove.
"He touched my glove a little bit but I don't think significantly," he said. "It's hard to argue if he doesn't have his stick there, [whether] I get it clean or not. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not."
Lehner turned in yet another strong outing, following up his 37-save shutout of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday with 37 saves against the Devils. The Sabres simply weren't able to establish their game in the offensive zone, particularly in the second and third periods.
