Eric Robinson scored to give the Buffalo Sabres a lead entering the second intermission, but a string of four unanswered goals lifted the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 win inside KeyBank Center on Sunday.
The Sabres were previously 19-0-1 this season when leading after two periods.
“We made too many mistakes,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “It cost us. Lost some battles that you would like to have won and made some mistakes. That was the difference.”
Josh Morrissey drove to the net and scored the tying goal for Winnipeg with 9:22 remaining. Morgan Barron added the winning goal 3:17 later, scooping up a loose puck in the neutral zone and burying a wrist shot on the rush from the right circle.
Vladislav Namestnikov and Sean Monahan added empty-net goals for the Jets in the final minutes.
The Jets, who were 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and had allowed the second-fewest goals per game in the NHL entering Sunday, finished the game with a 35-19 edge in shots.
“I don’t know if we were playing not to lose instead of trying to just go out there and play in the offensive zone and play defense by playing offense,” Robinson said. “It just felt like we were trying to hold onto it. You can’t do that against good teams.”
The Sabres twice had the lead, beginning when JJ Peterka finished a tic-tac-toe passing sequence on the power play to open the scoring with 2:27 remaining in the first period. Morrissey delivered a no-look pass from the point to set up the tying goal for Nino Niederreiter with 5.5 seconds to go before intermission.
Robinson put the Sabres back in front at the 9:20 mark of the second period, receiving a backhand feed from Peyton Krebs in the slot and beating goaltender Laurent Brossoit with a wrist shot. The Sabres maintained that lead for the next 20 minutes thanks in part to the goaltending of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who finished the night with 30 saves.
Morrissey broke through on Winnipeg’s eighth shot of the third period, a point-blank attempt from below the left faceoff circle. The Sabres responded with a long shift in the offensive zone from the line of Robinson, Krebs, and Zemgus Girgensons, but it ended with Barron going the other direction for the game-winning goal.
The Sabres entered the night having won five of their last six games, including a 7-2 victory over Vegas on Saturday.
“I think our guys fought fatigue,” Granato said. “But you either find a way to fight through it or find a way to be more efficient. And we were caught in the middle. … I don’t think we pressured pucks enough. And when we didn’t, we weren’t smart enough filling the right areas. We were on occasion early and throughout the game, but the last 10 minutes, obviously the dam broke there.”
Here’s more from the loss.
