The Sabres entered the game on a three-game winning streak and were just 6:29 from earning another point on Saturday.
"We're playing well, we're keeping them to the outside for the majority. I thought Linus made five or six unbelievable saves tonight. He's done it all year," Kyle Okposo said. "But I like the way that we're playing. Our identity's there and we're doing it more often than not. I like the way that we're going, it's just tough when you don't get the W."
Through 49 games this season - which included a trip to Sweden and a stretch of six games in nine days - the Sabres are 22-20-7 with 51 points. They're currently in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, six points out of a playoff position.
"It's pretty obvious what we need to do. We've just got to keep chipping away," Sam Reinhart, who scored in the game, said. "We've been setting goals internally and we're just trying to keep meeting those goals and chip away and keep putting points up on the board. This one's a little disappointing, but we've got some time to regroup and re-energize and come back fresh and ready to go."
Sabres coach Ralph Krueger has liked the team's improved defensive game as of late.
"I'm really happy with the commitment of the guys to play without the puck and to really work together with the group," he said Saturday night. "Of course, every team will commit chances as we do no matter how you play. But for us, it's not the habits now or the team concept that's in doubt, it's just once in a while, details - we could've had better sticks defensively early for instance, there were a couple of shot lanes in the third period we could've gotten into to maybe kill those shifts that got a little long on us.
"But those are details that you're excited to work on because the fundamentals are there and they're really becoming habits in our game."
Jeff Skinner, who scored 40 goals last season, has been out since Dec. 29 with an upper-body injury. He may be ready to return to the lineup after the bye week. Victor Olofsson, who was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month in both October and December, has missed six games due to a lower-body injury, may be close to a return as well.
"We're going to get some good players back after the break and if we can continue to build on the defensive game with the added firepower that's coming back at us, we should be excited about what's ahead," Krueger said.
