Flames rally for OT victory against Sabres

BUFFALO -- Johnny Gaudreau scored at 2:40 of overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at KeyBank Center.

Gaudreau beat goalie Carter Hutton from the top of the crease on a 2-on-1 pass from Mark Giordano.
With goalie David Rittich pulled for the extra attacker, Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk tied it 1-1 with 56 seconds left in the third period when he deflected an Elias Lindholm shot that went off Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's stick first.
It was Calgary's NHL-leading 20th goal in the third period this season.
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"I really liked our game tonight. I really liked how we stuck with it," Giordano said. "We were down one for pretty much the whole game, and we didn't take any unnecessary risks and give them the second one."

Rittich made 28 saves for the Flames (7-5-1), who were coming off a 3-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
"I thought we just sat back a little too much maybe," said Sabres captain Jack Eichel, who scored in the first period. "Obviously, they had a good push, but I just didn't think we played good enough. I thought there wasn't enough compete and enough fire. We were sloppy. I thought at times we were OK in the [offensive] zone, but I thought we relied on our goalie too much."
Hutton made 36 saves for the Sabres (6-4-2), who have earned at least a point in five straight games (3-0-2) but lost two in row.
"He's really given us some really good, solid goaltending and been asked to stand on his head," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "It's unfortunate, because even though we didn't play up to our capability and it was sloppy and we looked slow at times, we were disconnected, we didn't play as a team, he still gave us an opportunity."

Eichel gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 16:30 of the first. After Flames forward Mark Jankowski's pass hit linemate James Neal in the back in the neutral zone, Buffalo's Jason Pominville got to the loose puck and sent a pass over to Eichel in the left face-off circle.
Pominville's assist was his 500th point with the Sabres, tying him with Danny Gare for ninth in Buffalo history. It also extended his point streak to five games (four goals, five assists).
The Flames thought they scored 44 seconds into the second period when Gaudreau crashed the net after Hutton reached across to make a stick save against Lindholm, but referee Trevor Hanson blew his whistle to stop play before the puck crossed the goal line.
"We made some turnovers in the first. We talked about it in between the first and second," Gaudreau said. "We needed to be a little better there, and in the second and third, I thought we tightened up a lot more, had some good quality scoring chances, and found a way to tie it up in the third."

They said it

"I thought we could've been on the board earlier, and I thought we had some good looks in the third, and we just stayed with it. It's a different feeling on the bench if you're down and you're not generating any chances, you don't have any [offensive] zone time, but I thought we did." -- Flames coach Bill Peters

"I think even right off the drop of the puck, we weren't ready to play, and they obviously have some guys that can move the puck around well. Their top line is one of the best in the League, and they move the puck really well. We weren't ready to play but still had a chance to win a game and weren't able to seal the deal." -- Sabres forward Jason Pominville

Need to know

After their 5-1 victory at Buffalo on March 7, the Flames have consecutive road wins against the Sabres for the first time since Jan. 27 and Dec. 8, 1991.

What's next

Flames: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, ALT, NHL.TV)
Sabres: At the Ottawa Senators on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B, NHL.TV)