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A Late Night Sabres Loss in Calgary

Jan 23, 2025; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) controls the puck against Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) and defenseman Kevin Bahl (7) during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Power play failures continue to haunt Buffalo

Score: Flames 5 | Sabres 2

Shots: BUF 34 | CGY 26

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Mattias Samuelsson (3), Tage Thompson (22)
Calgary Flames Goals: Jonathan Huberdeau (19-SH), Nazem Kadri (16), Jakob Pelletier (4), Yegor Sharangovich (9-EN), Mikael Backlund (10-EN,SH)

Minus-1: What Are Power Plays Anymore?

While Buffalo managed a few good chances in the first half of the opening period, the momentum swung the other way in the blink of an eye. Not only have the Sabres continued their struggles to capitalize with the man-advantage, tonight they managed to allow the opposition to score shorthanded. It was Rasmus Dahlin who misplayed the puck at the blue line and slashed Jonathan Huberdeau as the latter flew down the ice to bury the puck and give the Flames the 1-0 lead and their fourth shorthanded goal (and Huberdeau’s second) of the season. Perhaps the only highlight of the first period for Buffalo was some entertaining scrappiness courtesy of Peyton Krebs and Dylan Cozens.

Plus-1: A Brand New Period

Starting fast and furious in the second period, Mattias Samuelsson wasted no time getting his team on the board for the first time tonight. He did a really nice job on a shift with Cozens, Beck Malentsyn, Sam Lafferty, and Henri Jokiharju. Each skater did their part to keep the puck in the Flames’ zone and it paid off as soon as Samuelsson let go of a nice wrister to tie up the game.

https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/1882629200550461876

Guess who scored the next goal? It was Samuelsson again, though Tage Thompson was given the final credit after he redirected the initial shot past goaltender Dustin Wolf and the Sabres celebrated their first and only lead of the game. Some solid pressure on both sides continued until Kadri’s shot dribbled through the legs of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make it 2-2 as the second period buzzer echoed throughout Scotiabank Saddledome.

Minus-2: Third Period Woes

Calgary battled back and reclaimed the lead early in the third period and it was all downhill from there. Luukkonen truly had no chance after a bad bounce off of Lafferty’s stick and another off of Owen Power’s skate as defenseman Brayden Pachal’s shot ping-ponged its way into the Sabres’ the net. The minutes that followed became increasingly tense with pressure in both zones and even a quick little fight between Krebs and Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. However, Buffalo could never bounce back as regulation came to a close. They continued to battle, but struggled yet again on the power play. Tonight, they went 0-for-6 with the man-advantage. What more can be said about this glaring issue that is still costing them points?

On to the next, I suppose: the Sabres wrap up their west coast road trip in Edmonton on Saturday. Puck drop is at 4:00 PM EST.

Three Stars

1. Jakob Pelletier (1G, 1A, +3)

2. Jonathan Huberdeau (1G, 2A)

3. Dustin Wolf (32 SV)

Talking Points