Postgame Report | Levi outduels Shesterkin in shootout thriller

NEW YORK -Sabres rookie goaltender Devon Levi fancies himself a challenge. It's precisely why he returned to college at Northeastern University, to feel the weight of expectations.
The 21-year-old has been doing plenty of heavy lifting lately. Since bursting onto the NHL scene at the end of March, he's now made four-straight starts with the Sabres still hanging on in the race for the postseason.
Monday night's hurdle was those same Rangers he beat in his NHL debut. Levi shouldered the load, stopping 26 of 28 shots to propel the Sabres to a 3-2 shootout victory at Madison Square Garden.

"I definitely feel it, but I choose not to focus on it," Levi said of the pressure-packed situation that he finds himself in just weeks after leaving school. "I just go out and have fun, stop pucks, and let all that stuff kind of take care of itself. I'm just trying to be as good as I can for the guys."

Levi's first triumph over New York came via the same score albeit with a different goaltender in the opposing net. Jaroslav Halak started back on March 31, but Monday night it was Igor Shesterkin, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, staring Levi down.
He didn't blink.
"It's awesome, he's an unbelievable goalie," Levi said. "I got to meet him this summer, we were on the ice together. It was fun. Great goalie, great guy also. So special."
The young netminder seems unphased by the Sabres' current predicament: needing to win the final three games of the season and get some help along the way in order to sneak in the back door of the NHL's postseason party.
"He was the perfect guy tonight, that is without question," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "He's calm under pressure and he needed to be tonight. Even after he gave up the one goal, then he turns around and ends the game on the next save."

The Rangers' shootout lineup resembled that of Murderers' Row and the 1927 New York Yankees: Patrick Kane, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko. But Levi nearly pitched a shutout, stoning the first three before Tarasenko finally beat him in the fourth-round.
Like he's done so often in his young NHL career, Levi shook it off. After Casey Mittelstadt scored to put the Sabres in command in the fifth round, Levi calmly stopped Kaapo Kakko to secure the victory.
"Those are great guys, great players," Levi said. "To go up against them, you see them on TV growing up, (I've) dreamt of being the guy going against them so to me that was pretty cool."
The Sabres' postseason dreams are still very much alive after the Capitals handed the Islanders a 5-2 loss and Toronto topped Florida 2-1 in overtime. Buffalo has made fighting until its last breath a signature lately and they've still got a puncher's chance at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Mittelstadt, who has also been on a heater in his own right, scored the game-tying goal with 11:47 to play in regulation. The soft-spoken veteran's 13th goal of the season marked a new career high and set the stage for the shootout winner.
"Fake the shot low blocker, and get him to bite," Mittelstadt said of his shootout goal on Shesterkin. "I think Tommer's (Tage Thompson) attempt helped me a little bit, he tried to do the same kind of thing."

JJ Peterka opened the scoring in the first period with his 12th goal of the season, but the Rangers came storming back with a pair of goals in the second off the stick of Artemi Panarin. When the Russian goal scorer was bearing down on him in the shootout, Levi did what else?
Challenged him.
"I come out far, that's always how I've done it since I was a kid," Levi said. "It works for me. Kind of just force them into a deke and then if they want to shoot, I'm there.
"Then all I just have to worry about is the deke. So, it kind of makes it 50/50, just like one or two, this is your only option. It makes it easier to read."

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres controlled the play for the first 20 minutes to the tune of a 14-4 advantage in shots.
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead with 5:36 to play when Peterka tallied his 12th goal of the season. Jack Quinn played a loose puck through Niko Mikkola's skates and darted towards the left post. He fed Peterka, who was crashing the net and buried the puck past Shesterkin.

Panarin drew a high-sticking penalty against Tage Thompson with 52 seconds remaining in the period, awarding the Rangers a power play that would carry into the second.
PERIOD 2
Panarin scored to tie the game with 10 seconds left on Thompson's penalty. He added his second of the game on a one-timer from the left circle to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 8:48 remaining.
Shesterkin slid from his right to his left to rob Owen Power at the left post with 1:37 to play.
PERIOD 3
The Sabres and Rangers traded chances to begin the third period. Peterka nearly tied the game on a shot that hit the crossbar. Levi turned away six shots from the Rangers in the opening 7:30.
It was Mittelstadt who broke through with 11:47 left to play. Alex Tuch pounced as K'Andre Miller fumbled the puck in front of the New York net and put a shot on goal. Mittelstadt knocked in the rebound.

OVERTIME
The Sabres outshot the Rangers 5-0 thanks in part to a 4-on-3 power play. Shesterkin ushered the game to the shootout.
SHOOTOUT
Neither team scored until the fourth round, when Power beat Shesterkin with a shot off his forehand. The Rangers stayed alive with a goal from Vladimir Tarasenko.
Mittelstadt tilted the shootout back in Buffalo's favor on the following attempt. Levi stopped Kaapo Kakko to ice the victory.

What we learned

1.Here's the full Wild Card picture after Monday's games:
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - Florida Panthers | 81 | 92 | .568 | 36 | 40 | | WC2 - New York Islanders | 81 | 91 | .562 | 35 | 40 | | Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 90 | .563 | 31 | 39 | | Buffalo Sabres | 79 | 87 | .551 | 29 | 37 |
2. Mittelstadt has 12 points in the last eight games.
3. Peterka (32 points), Power (35 points) and Quinn (37 points) became the second trio of Sabres rookies to record at least 30 points each in a single season and the first since 1987-88 (Calle Johansson, Ray Sheppard, and Pierre Turgeon).
4. The Sabres have won 40 games in a season for the first time since the team won 43 in 2010-11.
5.Levi joined Tom Barrasso and Don Edwards as the only goaltenders in franchise history to win four their first five career starts.

Up next

The Sabres play again Tuesday night in New Jersey before returning to KeyBank Center for the final home game of the season against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, April 13.
Puck drop against the Devils is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage begins on MSG at 6:30.