5 takeaways | Turnovers prove costly in loss to Pens

Rasmus Ristolainen seemed to capture the prevailing sentiment of Buffalo Sabres players following a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
Ending what has become a franchise-record, 15-game winless streak will be a matter of working smarter, not harder.
"I don't think we play very smart," Ristolainen said. "We make really stupid mistakes that lead to way too many odd-man rushes every game, and a team like Pittsburgh, they have skill up front and they had way too many odd-man rushes. I think we should keep it very simple."

Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring for the Penguins on a 3-on-2 rush, one of eight shots he would record on the night and one of 20 the Penguins would tally during the first period. The play began at the opposite end, when Rasmus Dahlin pinched in the offensive zone with no forwards dropping back to cover. Turnovers paved the way for Penguins goals for the remainder of the night.
Dahlin scored one of two goals for the Sabres on a shot from the point late in the first period. Victor Olofsson added another on a penalty shot during the third.
Here are five takeaways from the game.

1. Turnovers reappear late

Dahlin's goal sent the Sabres into the first intermission with a manageable 2-1 deficit. That score held throughout most of the second period, during which interim head coach Don Granato felt his team gained control of its game.
That changed during the final three minutes, beginning when an errant breakout pass from Taylor Hall led to an extended shift in the Buffalo zone that ended with a goal from John Marino. A misplay between Hall and Dahlin at the offensive blue line turned into a shorthanded goal for Zach Aston-Reese, increasing the deficit to 4-1 with 23.9 seconds left in the period.
Sidney Crosby got behind the Buffalo defense on a rush to extend the lead early in the third.
"I think we got to play a little bit smarter," Olofsson said. "We're working hard but maybe not as efficient as we want to. Just got to be a little bit more calm out there and read the play a little bit better. I think that will go a long way."

Curtis Lazar echoed Ristolainen's call for simplicity.
"We've got to understand that playing skill-based hockey when you're in a slump, it's not going to cut it," Lazar said. "We have to get back to the basics and really just will our way to a win. Build a game, make the other team earn every chance they get. Right now, we're making it too easy."

2. Learning on the fly

Granato has been asking the Sabres to play with more pace since taking over in his interim role a week ago. He said many of the mistakes Wednesday could be attributed to the learning curve as players adapt to a more offensive-minded approach.
"You don't have to open it up," he said. "But to play with pace and to adapt to that, it may open up until you actually understand how to not do that and not open it up. I'm generalizing here, but that's the quest for us as coaches.
"And I do believe it's part of a natural process when you're trying to move in that direction is, yes, you're going to give up some things. You'll start picking up the patterns of how to not expose yourself in those situations. So, again, not shocking to me that this is part of a process."

3. Tokarski gets the start

Dustin Tokarski was solid in his first NHL start since 2015, stopping 37 of 42 shots on a night when the Penguins were credited with 43 scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"I think he's been phenomenal for us both these games," Olofsson said. "Made some really big saves for us. I think it's time for us to pay it back to him and play some better hockey."

4. Lineup notes

The Sabres announced prior to warmups that Tage Thompson would miss the game due to an illness.
"We didn't find out until right before we were coming to the rink that he wasn't feeling good so we just out of precaution said to stay at the hotel to not complicate things more," Granato said.
The team dressed seven defensemen in Thompson's absence with Tobias Rieder also out due to an injury. The forward group took another hit during the first period when Rasmus Asplund left the game following his third shift, which ended with a collision between Asplund and Bryan Rust.
"He's still being evaluated so I don't have anything definitive on him," Granato said regarding Asplund. "Obviously, he wasn't able to return tonight so it doesn't look good for tomorrow. But I don't have a report on him."

5. Up next

The Sabres meet the Penguins again on Thursday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop set for 7.