Sabres erase 3rd-period deficit to earn OT win over Blue Jackets

Casey Mittelstadt felt the Buffalo Sabres needed to simply keep up what they were doing as they entered the second intermission trailing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Sabres had outshot the Blue Jackets 28-13 but trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes. Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert, filling in behind the bench with Don Granato out due to an illness, didn’t have to say much to the team between periods.

“Apps was pretty funny,” Mittelstadt said. “He’s like, ‘I haven’t been here, but it seems to me like you guys are playing great, so just keep going.’ Yeah, that’s what we did.”

Mittelstadt finally delivered the tying goal on Buffalo’s 35th shot of the night, a wrister from the right faceoff circle that beat Columbus goaltender Daniil Tarasov across his body. Jeff Skinner added the winning goal in overtime to clinch a 3-2 victory at KeyBank Center.

The result was a well-earned reward for the Sabres on a night that required patience. They earned a 24-11 edge in shot attempts after the first period but trailed due to a Damon Severson goal scored with 12.1 seconds remaining. When Jack Quinn evened the score during the second period, the Blue Jackets responded with an Adam Fantilli goal scored on an odd-man rush coming out of the penalty box.

The Sabres had earned an 11-6 edge in high-danger scoring chances by the time two periods had passed, according to Natural Stat Trick. Some missed the net; others had been turned away by Tarasov.

“I think those games you just have to stick with it and find an extra gear,” Skinner said. “If you’re not getting a bounce or it’s not going for you, you’ve got to create it yourself.”

Zach Benson delivered a drop pass to Mittelstadt in the offensive zone to set up the tying goal, after which the Sabres continued to apply pressure going into overtime. Owen Power set up Skinner’s winning goal, a one-timer from the slot scored 1:20 into the extra period.

“I thought we did a good job tonight of just staying disciplined, making the plays when we had it and getting pucks behind them when we had to,” Mittelstadt said.

Here’s more from the win over Columbus.

1. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said the decision to have Appert fill in for Granato was made to allow the rest of the coaching staff to continue their duties with as little interruption as possible, including postgame pre-scouting for Sunday’s game in Ottawa.

Appert will continue to fill in against the Senators while Granato recovers from his illness, with the hope being that the Sabres coach will be able to rejoin the team ahead of their following game in Montreal next Thursday.

“My entire intention of how to handle this was, first and foremost, make sure Donny Granato’s OK and being looked after, and second was, how do we put ourselves in the best position to win a hockey game and be least disruptive to the team?” Adams said.

“You can move roles around with assistant coaches and I have confidence in every one of them and they’re more than capable. But, as soon as you move one into a different spot, then someone else is going to pick up something else and just, there’s a trickle-down effect and it can be disruptive. So, for me, we have the luxury especially of having Rochester close by and Seth’s got a lot of experience, and he steps right into that role.”

2. The Sabres earned lopsided advantages in shot attempts (20-7) and scoring chances (11-3) with the line of JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens, and Quinn on the ice at 5-on-5. The group was rewarded when Quinn pulled a rebound out from the top of the crease and scored to tie the game at 1-1.

Quinn has three goals in five games after missing the start of the season while he recovered from surgery to repair an injured Achilles tendon.

“He’s a huge part of the team, he’s so dynamic,” Skinner said. “I think, of course that line is pretty special together. I think they have some great chemistry. I think we missed him when he was out, it’s nice see him get back in and not really miss a beat.”

3. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves to earn the victory, including multiple breakaway stops the kept the Sabres within striking distance. It was his first win since he returned from an illness on Dec. 13.

“There’s just such a presence and a command about him when he’s on his game,” Appert said. “As we all know, he was in a great spot a couple weeks ago before he got sick. He’ll get that back. He just works too hard, he’s too good of a teammate, he puts too much time in not to get that game back in form, and tonight was a great start with that.”

Up next

The Sabres close out the year with a visit to Ottawa on Sunday. Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 5:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 6. Radio coverage can be found on WBEN 930 AM.