5 takeaways | Point streak ends with loss to Devils

Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner scored to erase a two-goal deficit during the second period, but Sabres interim head coach Don Granato thought the hungrier team prevailed in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Jesper Boqvist scored to break a 3-3 tie with 11:15 remaining. Yegor Sharangovich and Janne Kuokkanen added goals within the final two minutes to conclude a third period in which the Devils outshot the Sabres, 11-2.
"We were able to hang in there," Granato said. "For some good reasons we were able to hang in there. But again, they were hungrier all over the ice than we were. That was the difference."
Victor Olofsson also scored a goal for the Sabres, who entered the contest riding a five-game point streak (3-0-2). Linus Ullmark allowed five goals on 37 shots.
Here are five takeaways.

1. Special teams spoil early lead

Henri Jokiharju carried the puck down low on a rush and fed Olofsson in the slot to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead just 53 seconds into the contest. The advantage was short-lived thanks to a pair of quick penalties.
Cody Eakin was called for holding at the 1:30 mark, paving the way for Pavel Zacha to bury a rebound on the ensuing power play. Zacha scored again with the extra man after Thompson took another holding penalty at 3:03.
Jack Hughes extended the Devils' lead to 3-1 with 3:56 remaining in the period.
"Coming out in the first I think we were a little slow," Thompson said. "They were beating us to pucks and winning battles. I think we just got outworked in the first and it put us behind the eight ball."

2. Rest vs. work

Granato has pushed the Sabres since taking over as interim head coach in March, upping the intensity and frequency of practices despite a condensed schedule. He explained it as a calculated gamble to risk sacrificing energy in order to gain time spent improving within a new system.
Amid a stretch of three games in four days, the Sabres held an optional morning skate Wednesday. Granato suggested he would have had a full session with the benefit of hindsight.
"We didn't play well enough at the start and we didn't play well enough through the game and of course as a result of that you look and you think of, 'What could you have done different?'" he said. "And that was a big one.
"You're gauging that rest and work ratio and we didn't respond the way we needed to with the rest, clearly."
Work and rest will continue to be a balancing act with no two-day breaks between games for the remainder of the season.

3. Sabres fight back

The Sabres were able to erase the two-goal deficit during the second period on the strength of goals from Thompson and Skinner, both of whom buried rebounds around the New Jersey net.
Kyle Okposo said the comeback was another sign of the growing confidence in a team that erased deficits to earn points in each of its past three games.
"I think that that's just a sign of us having some more confidence that we've generated over the past week and a half or so," he said.

4. Dahlin hits 100

Dahlin's assist on the game-tying goal was his 100th NHL point in 180 games, making him the second-fastest Sabres defenseman to hit the milestone after beginning their career with the team. Phil Housley was the fastest, hitting the mark in 106 games.
The helper also extended Dahlin's point streak to three games, with two goals and two assists in that span.

5. The big picture

The Sabres conclude their season series against the Devils with a record of 4-3-1. They host the Washington Capitals on Thursday to begin a stretch that includes 14 games against the four teams currently holding playoff seeds in the East Division (Boston, the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh, and Washington).
"It's a challenge we have to get excited about, really," Granato said. "… That's the challenge of this year and this division is you've got five or six teams, you might not be surprised even if the sixth team won the Stanley Cup this year because of the talent within the division.
"And you're locked in, you can't run to another division and play anybody else. That's the challenge of this season and that's the challenge we have to embrace. It will make us better, a better team for the future, better players for the future if we embrace that challenge."
Coverage on Thursday begins at 6:30 p.m. on MSG.