The Buffalo Sabres finished their four-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks and, unfortunately, weren't able to keep their win streak going. It was a game that they seemed to be playing from behind most of it, but three goals in the third period gave them a chance to get the win on Sunday night.
Unfortunately, it was a penalty late by Alex Tuch that opened the door for the Ducks to get back into it. The Sabres, for most of the night, struggled on the penalty kill by giving up three power play goals, and the Ducks capitalized with a power play goal in the final two minutes of regulation before scoring the game-winner in overtime.
After the game, defenseman Owen Power probably described it best about the road trip when he said: "This game puts a little sour taste in your mouth, but like you said, if you asked us if we'd be happy with seven out of eight points, I think we'd all say yes."
Buffalo Sabres clearly have a different mindset at this point of the season
No NHL team is going to win every game, although the Sabres have seemingly been pretty close to that since the middle of December, as they have won 22 of 30 games and secured at least one point in 25 of 30 games. The Sabres can clearly be disappointed knowing they let one get away, but this was a game in which they were being outplayed for the majority of the game.
While the final score left a sour taste, the overtime loss helped extend a franchise record in consecutive games with at least a point in a road game to 14 games.
When a team, even on an off night, can find a way to come back from two goals down in the third to take the lead, it shows a unique confidence. One that they clearly never feel like they are out of it and even with letting one point slip away, they can point to the fact that it was a really successful road trip.
The Sabres still remain in first place in the Atlantic Division, still hold a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the division, and are only one point back of the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the conference.
The fact that they now have four straight home games, where they are 22-9-3 and outscored their opponents by 23 goals, gives them a great chance to start another win streak in front of the home crowd.