Breaking down the turning point of the Buffalo Sabres loss to Arizona

The Buffalo Sabres suffered another shutout loss last night to the Arizona Coyotes in a game that seemed to be going their way in the second period.

For most of the first period in last night’s shutout loss to the Arizona Coyotes, the Buffalo Sabres looked flat, once again playing like that team struggling to get anything going early before roughly the 15-minute mark. Then, they played well enough to where you thought that if they sustained such momentum heading into the second period, then perhaps the Blue and Gold would score a goal or two and take control.

While the Sabres couldn’t find the back of the net, they outplayed Arizona in the second frame, and two-thirds of the way through, they found themselves on a stellar offensive sequence. Buffalo kept the Coyotes pinned in the defensive zone while they made methodic changes.

It looked like a goal was imminent, but the puck eventually made its way down the ice and into the Sabres zone after miscommunication between Ryan Johnson and Kyle Okposo. This gave Arizona the break they needed, but no one thought they would score such a quick goal.

Quick change of events was the turning point in the Buffalo Sabres loss to Arizona

Unfortunately, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, starting last night over Devon Levi, mishandled things, and Clayton Keller took advantage. Luukkonen skated outside the crease to collect the puck before he took it to the boards, but the Coyotes applied pressure, forcing the 24-year-old to get rid of the puck quickly.

However, Luukkonen misfired and turned the puck over to Keller, who had an empty net to work with. He had no chance to skate back into the crease, allowing Keller to score an easy goal to put the Coyotes up 1-0.

It was an unfortunate event for the Buffalo Sabres, who allowed another goal midway through the third period that put them down 2-0. Following the subsequent goal, the Blue and Gold couldn’t generate enough offense to answer, and they ended up leaving Tempe, Arizona with a 13-16-3 record, spelling their fifth loss so far in December.

Overall, it was a heartbreaking loss for a team that initially looked like they were having the better game until that turning point. So once again, the Blue and Gold must find a way to respond and return to the win column, something they hope to do come Tuesday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

(Information provided by NHL.com)