Ruzicka, Flames recover for win against Sabres

BUFFALO -- Adam Ruzicka broke a tie early in the third period to help the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Ruzicka scored from the left face-off circle at 4:35 to put the Flames ahead 4-3. Dillon Dube won a battle along the wall and got the puck to Nazem Kadri, who quickly passed to Ruzicka.

“Dube made a great play on the wall, hard play obviously, and ‘Naz’ found me, and I was fortunate it went in,” Ruzicka said.

Jonathan Huberdeau, Walker Duehr and Blake Coleman each scored, and Dan Vladar made 24 saves for the Flames (2-1-1).

“It was a good road game again for us,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “I thought it was similar to the way we played in Washington (3-2 shootout loss), which is a nice sign for us. But we were able to keep it up and found a way to win. And I think after they scored to even it up, scoring quickly after that, the way we did it was a big thing for our team, for sure.”

Tage Thompson scored, and Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens each had two assists for the Sabres (1-3-0). Devon Levi made 32 saves.

“We created our own mess tonight,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We were sloppy. The difference in the game for me was Calgary did a nice job playing a very direct game. They got their bounces, they made their breaks. I felt we didn’t play direct enough. … Five-on-5, we wanted to play a little bit pretty at times and didn’t play direct enough. It’s tough sledding as a result.”

Huberdeau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead 49 seconds into the game, converting on a rebound from the left circle.

Erik Johnson tied it 1-1 at 6:06 with a wrist shot from the point off a pass by Dahlin. It was Johnson’s first goal since signing with Buffalo in July and his first since April 26, 2022, with the Colorado Avalanche (68 games).

“It’s great to score, it’s great to contribute any way on the team I can,” Johnson said. “Credit to Kyle [Okposo] and ‘Dahls’ for making those plays. Any time I can chip one in, it’s a bonus. That’s not really what I’m known for anymore, but fun to contribute. Obviously I’d trade that for a win, but you know, it’s nice to contribute and hopefully, I’ll pot a few more and get some more wins most importantly.”

Duehr put Calgary ahead 2-1 at 10:15, finishing off a quick passing play from low in the right circle.

Thompson made it 2-2 at 14:28 with a wrist shot over the glove of Vladar on the power play. It was Thompson’s first of the season.

Coleman’s one-timer from the right circle on an odd-man rush gave Calgary a 3-2 lead at 1:52 of the third.

“I thought we were resilient,” Coleman said. “I think every time we grabbed some momentum, they seemed to grab it back and (we) just stuck with it. I thought we were the better team 5-on-5. A few too many penalties, but good kills and big saves from ‘Vladdy’ kept us there, and a couple of timely goals. I think we’ve been building the right way, and I think we deserved to finally get a road win.”

JJ Peterka tied it 3-3 at 3:14 when he twisted his body to get a wrist shot over the blocker of Vladar from the top of the right circle.

“You can’t change what happened in the past, you can only change what you’re going to do in the moment,” Johnson said. “I think for us as a team, to take that next step, you make the play that’s there and when the simple play is there, you make them. I think sometimes, we try to overcomplicate it. We have a lot of skill in this room, that will take over when the opportunity is there. But I think as a group, we have to recognize that that’s not always going to be the case."

"I think every game, we have been a better team," Ruzicka said. "We've just got to keep working on the little details in the game."

NOTES: Dahlin surpassed John Van Boxmeer (52) for the fourth-most multipoint games (53) and third-most multiassist games (36) by a Sabres defenseman. … Calgary scored four go-ahead goals, tied for second-most total in its history. The Flames hadn't scored that many since Nov. 18, 2013, against the Winnipeg Jets. … Johnson (35 years, 212 days) is the oldest defenseman since Craig Rivet on Dec. 21, 2010 (36 years, 99 days) to score for Buffalo.