One day after beating the Seattle Kraken for the first time, the Buffalo Sabres were back in action against the Vancouver Canucks. Buffalo had their hands full in this matchup as Vancouver came into the game with 92 points on the season. Having a back-to-back on the road is tough, but facing one of the best teams in the league for the second game makes it more difficult.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had the night off as it would be Devon Levi between the pipes tonight for Buffalo. After thriving in Rochester for the last few months, we would see Levi for the first time since January.
There was only one goal scored in the first period and it was courtesy of Conor Garland as he made it 1-0 Vancouver just a few minutes in. While that was the only goal scored, it was a terrible period for Buffalo. From passing the puck too many times or just not being able to get chances, Levi did his job as the Sabres were outshot 15-7 in the period.
Just like the first period, there was one goal and yet again, it was the Canucks as Elias Pettersson made it 2-0 on a power play. Buffalo only had 10 shots on goal through two periods and the power play looked dreadful. You have to give credit where it's due to Vancouver. There's a reason why they are one of the best teams in the league and the Sabres were getting dominated by them.
Around the halfway mark of the third period, the Sabres finally broke through as Rasmus Dahlin got Buffalo on the board with a beautiful move. Pettersson would get an empty net goal to make it 3-1 and even though Dahlin got another goal, it was too little too late and the Sabres would be swept by the Canucks in the season series in a 3-2 loss.
Postgame thoughts
Not much needs to be said about this game. Levi did well against a very good Vancouver team while the Sabres played an awful game. The power play was bad as well. Buffalo will look to regroup when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.