Lehner's strong effort comes up short as Sabres fall to Blues

With two goalies playing at the top of their games and two teams knotted in a scoreless tie, it became evident as the third period drew closer to its end that the winner between the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues at KeyBank Center on Saturday night could come down to one decisive bounce.
Actually, it came down to three. Carl Gunnarsson roofed a shot through traffic past Robin Lehner to put the Blues on the board with 5:41 remaining, while Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen each came inches from tying the game in the final minute of a 1-0 loss for the Sabres.
It was a more complete effort than their loss to Florida on Thursday, but simply competing against one of the NHL's top teams was of little consolation for Jack Eichel and the other players who spoke afterward.

"As a group, we can't be satisfied with playing well against a good hockey team," Eichel said. "Those are games where you need to find a way to get a goal, come up big. Someone's got to step up there. Myself, I got to step up and get something there."

The Sabres put themselves in position to tie the game when Eichel drew an interference penalty with 2:26 remaining, giving them their fourth power play of the night. Lehner soon left the ice in favor of Evander Kane to give them a 6-on-4 advantage.
Kane set up the first of two golden chances for the Sabres with a pass across the crease to Sam Reinhart, who seemingly had an open net with some 30 seconds remaining. Reinhart wound up and took a one-time shot from point-blank range.
Instead of the tying goal for the Sabres, the play became another highlight for Blues goalie Carter Hutton, the NHL leader in both save percentage and goals-against average this season. Hutton lunged over in desperation and caught Reinhart's shot with the blade of his skate, redirecting it wide of the net.
"That's a tough one to swallow at that point of the game," Reinhart admitted afterward. "I've got to find a way to put that one on net."

Buffalo still had time to get the goal they needed, and they nearly did on a shot from Rasmus Ristolainen in the game's final seconds. That shot rung the crossbar.
"I mean, it's whoever's going to get that bounce, really," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "You can't fault our guys for the way they played. It's a good hockey team."
Lehner was stellar in net for the Sabres, stopping all but one of the 33 shots he faced. He was particularly impressive in the first 10 minutes of the third period, when the Blues made arguably their strongest push of the game and the Sabres goalie held strong.
It was during that stretch that Lehner made a highlight-reel save with his pad on Blues forward Brayden Schenn:

"The first 10 minutes of the third, I don't think I've ever seen a span like that out of a goaltender," Reinhart said.
Lehner improved to 120-for-123 (.976) on save opportunities in his last four games, a stretch that includes back-to-back shutouts in Edmonton and Vancouver last week.
"I really liked the way he played tonight," Housley said. "He made some key saves for us at critical times of the game. He's just got to continue to play that way and gain some confidence from this game even though we didn't get the result we wanted. I thought it was a good step in the right direction."

The Sabres have scored just three goals in three losses to open their five-game homestand. Housley felt they played with more intensity at the start than they had in their loss to Florida, crucial against a St. Louis team that began the night with a 17-0-1 record when leading after one period. He also felt they could have done more to get to Hutton.
"The one thing I can say is I didn't think we had a shot mentality," Housley said. "We passed up way too many opportunities to get pucks to the net. We talked about that before the game and that's one area we need to get better in. We have to get pucks to the net.
"If we want to score 5-on-5, we need to get pucks to the net."

Up next

The Sabres continue their homestand against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. It will be Hockey is for Everyone Night at KeyBank Center, dedicated to promoting inclusiveness in hockey for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.
Can't make it downtown? Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night Pregame Show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.