Buffalo trails Detroit by five points in the Eastern Conference playoff race
Buffalo trails Detroit by five points in the Eastern Conference playoff race
The Buffalo Sabres did not appear to have much energy in a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, which may have struck the death knell to their chances of chasing down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres were playing in the second of back-to-back games and managed only 17 shots on Vancouver backup Casey DeSmith. After being outshot 25-10 and falling behind 2-0 after two periods on goals by Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson, Buffalo staged a late comeback, narrowing the 2-1 midway through the third on Rasmus Dahlin’s 16th goal of the season, but they could not register the equalizer before Pettersson scored into an empty net with rookie Devon Levi pulled.
Dahlin scored again with 22 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late for Buffalo, who lost their second game on this critical five-game Western road trip.
“There was a lot not going right, (but we) stayed on it and you have a chance to win it with Devon playing very well and Rasmus stepping up.” Sabres head coach Don Granato said after the game. “We knew we had to step up, be more direct, be harder, more direct. That was obvious. You’ve got to have a surge, you’ve got to have a push. That was it.”
The loss, coupled with Detroit’s comeback victory over Columbus, may have mortally wounded the Sabres chances of staying in the playoff race. The Red Wings trailed the Blue Jackets 3-2 late in the third, but Lucas Raymond tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation and Patrick Kane scored the game-winner 48 seconds into overtime to move the Wings five points up.
Buffalo has 12 games remaining at 71 points, while Detroit has 13 left and Washington (who are four points ahead) has 15. The NY Islanders (who are two points ahead) lost 4-1 to Carolina at home, while New Jersey moved to within one point of the Sabres with a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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