Postgame Report | Sabres can't hold off Avalanche attack in home loss

The Buffalo Sabres could not overcome a high-scoring second period from the Colorado Avalanche, falling 6-4 inside KeyBank Center on Thursday.
The Avalanche, who entered the night with the NHL's top-ranked power play at 32.4 percent, went 3-for-6 with the extra man and pulled ahead during a four-goal middle period. Nathan MacKinnon paced the Avalanche with two goals and three assists while J.T. Compher had two goals and two assists, and Mikko Rantanen had two points (1+1).
JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, and Alex Tuch scored goals for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.
The Sabres finished with a 40-24 edge in shot attempts at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"I thought we played really well 5-on-5," Tuch said. "We gave them too many opportunities obviously with the penalties we took. I thought we played a full 60 minutes other than the penalties and simple mistakes here or there that we just have to shore up because they have a lot of weapons over there."

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres fell behind 8:48 into the contest on a power-play goal from Compher but received goals from Peterka and Thompson to carry a 2-1 lead into intermission.
Peterka put the Sabres on the board at the 10:19 mark. Cozens won the puck along the boards and found Jack Quinn, who set Peterka up with an open net.

Thompson pulled off one of his patented moves for the go-ahead goal with 10.7 seconds remaining and the Sabres on the power play. Jeff Skinner dished a pass across to Thompson, who deked Alexandar Georgiev down to the ice before tucking the puck in behind the Avalanche goaltender.

PERIOD 2
The Avalanche scored four goals in the period, ignited by a pair of penalties that set them up with 1:56 at 5-on-3. Nathan MacKinnon scored the tying goal with the two-man advantage, then created the rebound that led to Artturi Lehkonen's go-ahead goal on the remaining power play.
MacKinnon buried an attempt from the slot as the trailing man on the rush to increase Colorado's lead with 8:07 left in the period. The Sabres earned their own 5-on-3 power play, which ended with a goal from Cozens, but Compher scored on a long rebound to make it 5-3 heading into intermission.

PERIOD 3
Tuch cut the deficit to one just seven seconds into the period, chasing down a carom off the end boards and beating Georgiev with a backhand shot between the pads.

Tuch said the play was drawn up prior to the period. Thompson won the opening faceoff back to Dahlin, who sent the hard off the back wall.
"Tommer was winning a couple in a row so I thought he'd be able to snap one back and he was able to," Tuch said. "I told Dahls to just send it off the Tim Hortons sign at the end and hopefully it was going to pop up to me and it ended up being perfect."
The Sabres generated two power plays during the third period and totaled nine shots but could not push the tying goal past Georgiev. Rantanen scored his team-high 14th goal on an empty net with 34.9 seconds remaining.to make it 6-4

What we learned

1.Cozens now has four goals in the last three games and 13 points in 10 games dating back to November 10. He now has 21 points on the season.
"I think he's been unbelievable," Mattias Samuelsson said. "He's so fast and strong and he's been protecting the puck well. I know he's only 21, but he looks like a veteran playing with two younger guys. I think he's really taken the next step and it's fun to watch. I'm excited for what he has in store."
2.Tuch's goal was the 200th point of his career. His goal came seven seconds into the third period and is tied for the third-fastest goal scored from the start of any period by a Sabres skater. Danny Gare scored seven seconds into the first period of Buffalo's 6-3 win over Vancouver on December 17, 1978.
3.Thompson recorded at least three points (1+2) for the fourth time this season. He had two such games all of last year.

Up next

The Sabres host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. It will be Native American Heritage Night at KeyBank Center, held in partnership with Seneca Resorts and Casinos. Find more information on the night here.
Tickets are on sale now.
Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops on MSG and WGR 550 at 7.