The Buffalo Sabres 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks saw emotions run hot.
BUFFALO — If you repeat the mantra about when being in doubt to get a game to overtime, then the Buffalo Sabres accomplished that goal in dramatic fashion. The unfortunate part about holding to that belief is that winning the game is the preferred outcome and that’s what eluded them on Friday afternoon in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
“It’s a heck of a point,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We had some good looks, even early second. You look at some of the looks that Tage (had)… we just didn’t quite make the next play the whole game. The next play was there. We didn’t connect on that next play. Our power play was a little bit out of sync, didn’t connect on plays it should’ve connected on. We had opportunities to get that two-goal lead but didn’t get it. We let them hang around, and you end up in a game like that. They’re a tough club – we knew that going in. These last two games have been just tough, hard hockey.”
After getting goalie’d by Filip Gustavsson and the Minnesota Wild, the Sabres took a valiant, yet frustrating, point from the Canucks. Getting to overtime is good since, as we’ve learned over time, loser points get teams to the playoffs more than a well-played regulation loss would. But this one felt like a game where two points would’ve/could’ve/should’ve been had and that’s where the bad taste left in the mouth of the players afterward lingers.
“We didn’t have any quit and we played with desperation,” Dylan Cozens said. “It’s on me to take that penalty there and put ourselves in that situation, but the boys got it back and we got a point, but it sucks to not finish that off.”
More ahead on those penalties, the comeback, and the frustrating overtime that decided the game.
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The latter part of the second period and all of the third period provided a roller coaster of emotions for both teams, but the blood ran substantially hotter for the Sabres. Dubious penalties abounded and Dylan Cozens ran afoul of officials Kendrick Nicholson and Peter MacDougall when he was whistled for a holding call against Jake DeBrusk.
A look at the replay showed DeBrusk hanging onto Cozens’s stick and the Sabres forward tried to get it out of his grasp. From the official’s line of sight, they saw things differently to which Cozens vociferously disputed to the point of getting an extra two minutes for a misconduct. Cozens stewed in the box spiking the water bottle and punching the glass.
“We discussed it on the bench,” Ruff said. “He knows how I feel, and he knows he can’t do it. He’d be the first guy to take ownership. I did say, ‘The only way you can make amends is get one back.’ So, we need to grow as a team. You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Sometimes you don’t like the call, you’ve got to keep your composure. Sometimes you don’t like it when a goal’s taken away, you’ve got to keep your composure. There’s times in a game where you just have to show a lot of self-restraint – even the coach has to do that at times.”
Canucks forward Connor Garland potted the goal that broke the 1-1 tie 52 seconds into the four-minute double minor penalty. Considering how questionable the penalty was, Cozens’s (understandably) heated reaction to it at that point in the game in that situation, it had the making of being a backbreaker.
“I wanted to get that one back for the boys,” Cozens said. “It’s just a dumb second penalty by me and I was pissed off. I just wanted to do what I could to help the team.”
Garland made his presence known again 3:45 later when he got out in front of a Tage Thompson slap shot that sent the puck out of the zone and onto the stick of Pius Suter who took off on a breakaway where he beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen that made it 3-1 with 11 minutes left to play.
“I’ve played with Tommer at World Championships, I actually was feeding him one-timers on the power play, so I know how hard he hits it,” Garland said. “So, I was a little nervous dropping there, but fortunate it caught me in the right spot and bounced to Sutes, and great finish. He’s been playing great for us.”
Garland is a tough SOB and being (generously) listed at 5’10”, 165 pounds means he’s resilient as anything. Seeing him get down in front of Thompson to block a shot is equal parts brave and reckless given he can hammer the puck up to 104 miles per hour. In this case, bravery was rewarded, but that goal didn’t put the Sabres away.
The entire situation with Cozens and the penalties lit a fire under Buffalo and after they’d settled for more creative shot selection and plays for roughly 50 minutes, they changed up their attack and crammed in around the goal. That’s when Cozens was able to get some revenge of his own.
At 13:18, Cozens fired a shot from the right circle with a crowd of players in front, including Zach Benson who took away Kevin Lankinen’s eyes enough for the puck to get behind him to cut it to 3-2. For Cozens, that goal evened out the ledger and accomplish what Ruff asked him to do.
It was 1:39 later the Sabres tied it up when, once again, it was Benson who made things happen. His shot from the wall headed towards the net with both Cozens and Alex Tuch parked around it. The puck was deflected by Cozens and went off Tuch and fluttered over Lankinen and into the net and sent the holiday crowd into a frenzy.
“We played with desperation and that’s what this team has,” Cozens said. “We don’t have any quit, we’re going to battle until the last buzzer and we’re going to keep fighting until the game’s over.”
Both teams played it tight over the final minutes of regulation to no avail and the game headed to overtime. There, the Canucks won the opening faceoff and dominated possession for most of the 3:59 that was played.
The Sabres lone chance was a grade-A opportunity in which Thompson broke towards the net with the puck on his stick, deked and appeared to try to slide the puck five-hole past Lankinen where the Canucks goalie made an incredible pad stop. The puck rebounded out to Bo Byram, who had the game’s first goal, and his shot was also stopped by Lankinen.
“It’s just incredible,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “That save was just, guys on the doorstep, they had two or three chances. What I like about Lanks is he just stood tall, looked big. He wasn’t flipping, and you could tell that he’s seeing the puck really well.”
It was roughly 30 seconds later that Canucks superstar Quinn Hughes rushed towards the far side of the Sabres net and attempted a pass across to Garland that went off of J-J Peterka’s leg and settled down near the crease for Garland to sweep it past Luukkonen for the win. Garland was an offensive menace all game and his three-point night (2-1-3) proved it.
“(Hughes) had his own puck out there,” Tocchet said. “Nothing amazing with that kid, but overtime was pretty special. I think that gave the bench juice, and Garland juice. And obviously to make a good play there, I thought Garland was incredible.”
For the Sabres, the loss rankled them. Byram was in no mood to discuss the game’s happenings and kept his answers short in taking our questions afterwards. Considering he was tasked with shadowing Hughes, the Norris Trophy winner last season, on that final play it’s understandable. He’s a ferocious competitor and any of us in his position would be pissed, too.
The kind of emotion the Sabres used to get back into the game and force overtime, the kind exhibited by the players following the game, is the kind of thing you want to see them carry forward into Saturday night’s game on the road against the New York Islanders. Both teams played on Friday afternoon so it’s a back-to-back for both. Taking the bitter taste that will linger for the rest of the day and turning it into a “F-U” attitude tomorrow seems like a good way to attack getting two points rather than one.
Let’s talk a little about the spectacular game played by Zach Benson. He had two assists and was a plus-3 (I know, I know, I know…) for the game. His first assist on Bo Byram’s first period goal was incredible.
Benson feathered a pass between two Canucks defenders to hit Byram cutting to the net after he gained the zone and passed back to Benson for a redirect past Lankinen.
“It was one of those things where (Byram) kicks it, makes a hell of a drive and takes two guys with him,” Benson said. “I was in the position where I was like, gonna shoot, gonna shoot. Then last second, I wanted to sauce it, and it kind of came off my stick funny but landed in a perfect area. Obviously, he made an elite play.”
Benson was the guy who took away Lankinen’s sight of the puck when Cozens fired away from the circle to cut the Vancouver advantage to 3-2. This time, he stayed out of the paint and free from any potential challenges. Considering how net presence comes and goes for everyone on the roster, that he’s making it a regular thing to get there is smart.
“I think you’re looking at a guy that his desire to win was real good,” Ruff said. “You look at the pass he made to Byram on the goal. Where he was on the Cozens goal, again – he’s the guy in the paint. He’s a guy that, his desire to do the right thing at the right time is probably second to none on the team.”
Benson’s second assist on the double deflection by Cozens and Tuch was just a case of making the right decision to throw the puck at the net and try to make something happen. Sometimes hockey is an easy game like that but getting the shot through where his teammates could make a play on it isn’t always that easy.
Ever since he returned from his ankle issue, Benson has given the Sabres a lift they very much needed. Being able to do some of the things we’re watching him do at 19 years old is a lot of fun to watch, especially when you consider there’s more growth to come from him and more comfort and confidence yet to be established. He’s a hell of a player already and there’s more coming.
Sam Lafferty left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and didn’t return. Ruff said after the game he likely won’t play against the Islanders on Saturday. Buffalo recalled forward Tyler Kozak from Rochester to join them on the Island and if he plays, it’ll be his NHL debut.
It’s exciting to see Kozak get the nod because not only is he a potential natural fit on the fourth line, he’s got the kind of game that drives opposing players crazy because he’s relentless on the puck and the forecheck and doesn’t fear getting his hands dirty in scrums.
Kozak is a guy that’s impressed me since the first time seeing him at development camp years ago and his junior hockey numbers were very good. Since being with the Americans—when he’s been healthy—he’s been a solid part of their defensive forward mix.
At 21 years old, Kozak is still plenty young and if this is an opportunity to see him at the next level to see how he fits with the speed and size of the NHL, it’s worth a peek at the very least. If he’s there for insurance purposes, then it’ll at least make for a good first pro experience.