Sabres fall to Rangers on last-second goal

NEW YORK -It will be inevitable that the Sabres feel the sting of what transpired during the final seconds of their game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Don Granato told his players not to let it overshadow everything that came before.
Ryan Lindgren scored with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation to earn a 5-4 victory for the New York Rangers, a heartbreaking end to a back-and-forth contest in which the Sabres felt they had reestablished their confident identity on the heels of a lopsided loss to Calgary.
"We just have to make sure this doesn't take away from progress and make us hesitate," Granato said afterward. "These situations that happened to us in the last few days, when you're not getting what you want, you tend to be more hesitant, and we can't have that happen."

The Sabres had three defenders battling for a puck along the end boards, working to keep possession as the final seconds dwindled off the clock. It finally popped free with just enough time for Adam Fox to initiate the tic-tac-toe passing sequence that ended with Lindgren staring down a yawning net.
"We lost inside position," Granato said. "I think everybody in the building knew the scenario and the clock, the situation. We were no longer in a situation to score a goal, so the primary focus should have been on being in a defensive posture to make sure we didn't get scored against and we gave up some inside position there, obviously. It's unfortunate and the only thing you can do is learn from it."
The Sabres entered the game with a focus on getting back to their workmanlike approach after slipping into hesitation during the 5-0 loss to the Flames, their first shutout of the season. They managed to go blow for blow with the Rangers during the first 40 minutes and weathered a push during the final 20.
Buffalo led 1-0, 2-1, and 4-3 at various points during the first two periods. A six-goal second period hit its crescendo when the two teams traded four goals in a span of just 1:22.
Kaapo Kakko set off the sequence with a goal on the rush to give the Rangers their first lead of the night at 3-2. Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin scored goals 15 seconds apart to reclaim the lead for the Sabres. K'Andre Miller tied it up again with a shot from the point.

The four game-tying goals were tied as the most in an NHL game this season.
"A lot of fun for the people in the building, I'm sure," Granato said. "And again, it's momentum swings. You're in somebody else's building, the crowd if a big part of that four goals in two minutes or whatever you mentioned it was.
"I don't think we have that if we don't have anyone in the building. The noise and the atmosphere and emotion creates and adds to that. That's something we have to managed but I thought for the most part we showed marked improvement."
The Rangers outshot the Sabres 13-4 during the third period. The Sabres weathered the push thanks in part to a windmill glove save by goaltender Aaron Dell on Filip Chytil.
"I think we could have managed the puck a little bit more," forward Victor Olofsson said. "… We kept it just a little too safe sometimes and they kind of took advantage of that. But at the same time, I think we should have probably taken it to overtime, and that's really good in this building."
The contest kicked off the busiest week of the season for the Sabres, a stretch of five games in seven days that continues at home against the Blue Jackets on Monday.
"Of course it stings, what happened at the end there," forward Rasmus Asplund, who scored a power-play goal, said. "But we've just got to keep learning and keep earning it."

Olofsson returns

Olofsson returned from an eight-game absence stemming from an injury that occurred during practice on Nov. 1. He earned an assist on Dahlin's goal, setting the sequence in motion with a battle won along the end boards and later feeding the defenseman's one-time point from the shot.

He finished with four shot attempts in 17:02.
"I felt OK," Olofsson said. "The timing, the legs were a little bit off in the beginning but I think I worked my way into the game and I felt pretty good."

Up next

The busy week continues at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.