The Buffalo Sabres traveled to Ottawa Tuesday night, in a game that saw Buffalo record its first road win of the season, by a final score of 6-4.
Buffalo’s offense started off great, and only got better as the game progressed. Forwards Tage Thompson, Casey Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner, and Alex Tuch all recorded multi point nights in the win.
The Sabres defense also faired well until the final five minutes of the game. The Sabres special teams was also clicking, as both the power play and penalty kill units scored goals in this one.
However, the penalty kill unit also gave up a goal. Now making it two consecutive games with a goal scored against the once stout unit.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played very well in the first two periods, but fell off a bit in the third, allowing three goals in the final frame.
Overall, Buffalo was able to hold off a late game Senators come back, recording its third win of the season, and its first on the road.
1st period
The Buffalo Sabres started the game off hot, generating a few good chances early. After a couple of good saves from Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg, the Sabres would find themselves with a two on one opportunity.
Veteran forward Alex Tuch would find Jeff Skinner, who would beat Forsberg and allow Buffalo to jump out to an early lead 1-0.
However, the Sabres offense wasn’t done, as the unit continued to receive chances.
Thanks to a good forecheck in the offensive zone, the Sabres captain Kyle Okposo was able to make a good pass that would lead to a tip-in goal in front of the net by Zemgus Girgensons to extend the Sabres lead to 2-0.
After their second goal of the period, the Sabres offense finally started to slow down, but the defensive unit was able to keep the Senators at bay, and send Buffalo into the first intermission with a two-goal lead.
2nd period
Entering the second period, Buffalo continued to match their energy from the first period, applying pressure early.
Just four minutes into the period, Jeff Skinner would find himself in front of the net, and tapped in a rebound to extend Buffalo’s lead to 3-0.
After the third goal of the game, Ottawa finally started to come to life, opening up the middle of the ice and generating high quality chances on Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Luukkonen was able to make some key saves, but late in the period Ottawa would finally get on the board, as defensemen Travis Hamonic ripped a shot off the post, and Jakob Chychrun would rifle the rebound past Luukkonen, making it 3-1.
However, it didn’t take Buffalo long to respond as Alex Tuch would deflect Rasmus Dahlin’s shot past Forsberg for his first goal of the 2023 season allowing Buffalo to retake the lead
Again, Buffalo wasn’t done, as Tage Thompson redirects an Owen Power shot that finds its way past Forsberg for his second of the year, and the Sabres fifth of the night, extending the lead to 5-1.
This goal, would prompt the Senators to switch goaltenders, putting in backup Joonas Korpisalo as Anton Forsbergs nightmare of a game would end late in the second period.
Neither side could find much room late, as Buffalo would head to the locker room with a 5-1 lead.
3rd period
Buffalo would enter the third period with a defense first mentality, as they held a four-goal lead to start the frame.
After a scoreless ten minutes, Ottawa would start to make a push at the Buffalo lead, starting with a few good chances that would be shut down by Luukkonen.
After winning an offensive zone face off, the puck would find its way Vladimir Tarasenko who fired the rebound past Luukkonen to cut into the Buffalo lead, making it 5-2.
Despite this, the Senators weren’t done scoring, as Josh Norris would add another goal on the power play, as Ottawa made it a two-goal game 5-3.
Ottawa would continue to apply pressure and Mathieu Joseph would score Ottawa’s third goal of the period, pulling to within one late in the game.
The Sabres would start to feel the pressure and with Ottawa continuing to apply it, Buffalo would take a penalty, providing Ottawa with a crucial chance to tie the game.
Ottawa would also pull goaltender Korpisalo to give them a six on four advantage, attempting to further their chances at tying the game late.
However, Buffalo would survive as Tage Thompson would float the puck down the ice into the empty net for his second goal of the night, and Buffalo would narrowly escape with a 6-4 victory on the road.
Takeaways
Buffalo’s offense looked great through two periods, but slowed down in the third period. The Sabres big name stars are finally starting to contribute, as the team survived a late push from Ottawa.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played well, but gave up too many rebounds that kept Ottawa in the game.
The defense didn’t look bad, but gave up 38 shots, which is the most the unit has allowed so far this season.
The special teams played well, but could have been better, as the penalty kill surrendered a goal for the second straight contest.
With the victory, the Sabres move to 3-4-0 on the season. The team now travels to New Jersey in search of their first win streak of the season against the New Jersey Devils.
