Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – For the fifth game in a row the Buffalo Sabres went to overtime and they still haven’t won in O/T. Their one victory came in a shootout.
On Tuesday the Sabres lost to the Utah Mammoth, 2-1. In each of the overtime losses the Sabres best players had Grade-A scoring opportunities to end it and none of them have come through.
In this game, Alex Tuch came down the slot and he was robbed by the glove of Karel Vejmelka. Lindy Ruff hated how his team defended after that and Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn just let Clayton Keller walk right around them and in on Alex Lyon for the game winning goal. Tuch appeared to have the Utah captain, but he got a step on him and then blew around Quinn for the goal.
If you boil this game down, the Sabres were lucky to even get a point out of it with the players that are out injured or sick. Not available were Josh Norris, Zach Benson, Jason Zucker, Jiri Kulich, Tyson Kozak, and Justin Danforth. Colten Ellis still isn’t 100% either.
Vejmelka in his career is 5-2-1 against the Sabres with a 1.75 goals against and .941 save percentage. He was unconscious in the first period making at least five point blank Grade-A saves robbing the Sabres. In one shift Bo Byram had Michael Kesselring sneaking in from the right point, he put a perfect pass on his stick for what appeared to be a layup, but Vejmelka got across. Right after that he stopped Byram right in front and then Byram set up Jack Quinn one-on-one against Vejmelka, but he was robbed too.
Right before that Tage Thompson came down the slot but put a backhand off the post. The Sabres were spent after that getting only nine shots on goal in the final 41 minutes. In the second Thompson hit the post again and Quinn was robbed in alone on a blocker save.
Buffalo did have the chance to go ahead in the third period on a 3-on-1, but Tuch missed a wide open net.
Lyon was even more spectacular than Vejmelka facing 28 shots in the final 41 minutes. Utah took a 1-0 lead in the third on a cross-ice pass to Nick Schmaltz as Lyon just barely failed to get over. Buffalo tied it when an open Noah Ostlund put his shot over the net, it hit the glass and Isak Rosen connected with the puck just over the crossbar with Ostlund tapping home his first NHL goal into the open net.
The three stars were an absolute joke and total home cooking as Lyon certainly deserved the first star, but the goalies were the show in this game and Vejmelka has to be the second, but he didn’t even get a star. I have no problem with Keller getting the third as he played well and had a goal and an assist.