There was concern that the Buffalo Sabres would encounter the usual disappointing effort returning from a lengthy road swing. That proved not to be the case, as the Sabres in their return to Key Bank Center directed 39 shots at Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson, but the Wild goalie stopped all of them and Kirill Kaprizov’s first-period tally stood up in a 1-0 victory on Wednesday.
“We had a lot of shots. I think we could have gotten to the inside a little bit more and create some rebounds,” Sabres winger Alex Tuch said after the game. “It’s a game of inches, and that’s what happens sometimes when you play a team that good defensively. It’s a tough ball for sure, I thought we played really well, and I thought defensively we didn’t give them crazy opportunities except for that one to start the game off.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was also excellent in a 28-save effort, allowing only Kaprizov’s first-period tally that came off a defensive breakdown that resulted in a four-on-one break.
“We made one big mistake in the first period, but I thought the first might have been one of the best first periods we played against a real tough team.” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. “When you’re down, you have no choice but to just put more risk in the game.”
The Sabres pressed late in regulation to tie the game, but Gustavsson made a number of excellent stops, including one on Tage Thompson at point-blank range with Luukkonen pulled for the extra attacker. The loss ended the club’s three-game winning streak and like their loss to Los Angeles last month, Buffalo could not cash in on numerous scoring opportunities.
Related: Sabres First Quarter Report Card – Center
With the loss, the Sabres fell out of a playoff spot prior to the US Thanksgiving break. Boston’s 6-3 victory on Long Island moved the Bruins into third place in the Atlantic with 25 points, and past Tampa Bay, who lost 5-4 to Washington and fell into the second Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
The club held practice on Thursday and team captain Rasmus Dahlin left the ice for maintenance reasons. Ruff did not believe it was anything of a serious nature, but will not know until just before the Sabres Black Friday afternoon contest against the Vancouver Canucks.
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