The Buffalo Sabres were hoping to build off an impressive 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before. This time, it would be in Toronto, and for the first time this season, the Buffalo Sabres would go to overtime.
While they did get one point, this game feels a little bit like a letdown after blowing a third-period lead. It was back and forth for the majority of the game, with neither team getting more than a one-goal lead.
The Sabres would get that 3-2 lead off a power-play goal by Tage Thompson about seven minutes into the period. However, the Maple Leafs responded to tie it up and send it to overtime, which they would win off a John Tavares goal.
The Sabres will now get a few days off to regroup before playing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Sabres continuing to get scoring from their blue line
Entering the two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Buffalo Sabres had only one goal from their defensemen on the season, which was by Owen Power against the Florida Panthers. After Mattias Samuelsson delivered two in the first game against the Maple Leafs, Bo Byram delivered a key goal in the second period on Saturday night.
It was a beautiful goal that came at a critical point in the game, as Byram's goal would tie the game up at two. The goalie didn't really have much of a chance to stop it as the Sabres did a great job getting players in front of the net and shielding Cayden Primeau.
Byram hasn't been much of a goal scorer with the Buffalo Sabres, but he showed that skill set while with the Colorado Avalanche when he had 18 goals in the final 97 games with the Avalanche. There is no question that he can continue to be a threat in the offensive zone; it will be a boost for this team.
Struggles continue in the face-off circle
Across both games, the Sabres did a pretty good job winning the loose pucks. They needed that because in the face-off circle, the Maple Leafs were clearly the better team.
By not winning the face-offs, the Sabres had to work a little harder to get possession and they missed out on a few chances in the offensive zone because of their struggles. On Friday, the Sabres won only 40% of their face-offs in the offensive zone. It was more of the same on Saturday as they won only 5 of their 18 chances.
In the game on Friday, it was Ryan McLeod who struggled in the face-off circle, winning only 5 of his 22 face-offs. On Saturday it was Jiri Kulich who went 4 of 15. These were two games that the Sabres really missed Josh Norris and what he can do in the face-off circle.
Tage Thompson scoring has picked up in a big way
Tage Thompson had a slow start to the season with only one goal through seven games. However, it felt like it was only a matter of time before he started scoring.
That happened on Friday night when Thompson scored one goal and followed it up with two goals on Saturday against the Maple Leafs. The Sabres have been getting some great production from other forwards like Jason Zucker, Josh Doan, and Jack Quinn, but Thompson is really the key to this offense, and they need him to continue to score at this rate.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returns but struggles to make the big saves when needed
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his season debut on Saturday for the Buffalo Sabres, finishing with 18 saves on 22 shots. The Sabres did a really good job of limiting Maple Leafs scoring chances, and 22 was the lowest total a Sabres goalie has seen this season.
With three goalies on the roster, their performances are going to be scrutinized and compared to the other goalies on the roster. One thing that really stood out in this game for Luukkonen, compared to what Lyon and Colten Ellis have done, is that UPL struggled to make that big-time save when needed.
It happened in the third period with the Sabres up one, but Dakota Joshua was able to sneak one past him to tie the game up. Then, in overtime, John Tavares had an open shot that felt like it should have been saved, but it got past him.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what kind of rotation Lindy Ruff decides to go with as he tries to get ice time for all these players.