The Buffalo Sabres have endured a number of head-scratching incidents in their nightmarish regular season, including a goalie scoring into an empty net and a blown four-goal lead to Colorado in early December that contributed to a 13-game winless death spiral that destroyed any chance at competing for a playoff spot, so an empty-net own goal in a 5-2 loss to Utah on Thursday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City was just simply par for the course.
The Sabres came into the contest winners of two straight, were tied 2-2 in the third period, and got a good performance in goal from backup James Reimer, but after Dylan Guenther’s game-winner with 5:47 left in the third, things unraveled for Buffalo. Reimer was pulled for the extra attacker late in regulation and with less than two minutes left, Utah’s Kevin Stenlund was called for a high-stick on Bowen Byram. Play continued and instead of giving the puck to the opposition to get a whistle and the man advantage, Sabres center Tage Thompson sent an errant pass to the point that went off the boards, down the ice, and into the open goal.
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“The wheels just fell off,” Thompson said about the club’s third-period collapse. “I didn’t know it was a delayed penalty (on the own goal), or I would have just given it to (Utah)……I wasn't really aware that there was a delayed call. Had that been the case, I probably would have just tried to attack and shoot or make them touch it. They were kind of sitting there and I thought I had a lane to (Rasmus Dahlin) to the top and it just went through everybody. (It was a) bad play by me and even worse result.”
The Sabres allowed another empty-netter to Mikhail Sergachev, increasing their season total to a league-leading 23 this season. After the game, a flustered Lindy Ruff reflected on the goal and that his players were unaware of the delayed penalty.
“The Tampa game was the same, I don’t know if (they) realized whether they realized (Utah) was getting a penalty,” Ruff said. “Just chalk another one up.”
Buffalo remains in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-34-6 record and will complete their four-game road trip with a pair of weekend matinees in Minnesota and Winnipeg.
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