The overturned goal was a microcosm of what was a frustrating contest for the Sabres, one in which they seemed to do everything right except outscore their opponent. They outshot the Devils, 46-21, but their lone goal came on a shot by Reinhart from center ice in the first period.
The Sabres made it a point to get to the front of the net and make life difficult for Schneider, particularly on the shift that led to Reinhart's would-be goal. Schneider stopped two Rasmus Ristolainen shots through heavy traffic before Reinhart was finally able to grab ahold of Skinner's rebound.
"I thought we were there quite a bit today," Rodrigues said. "I thought we put a focus on it, I thought we did a pretty good job of it. We just needed another bounce, that's all."
Officials ruled that Rodrigues made enough contact with Schneider to impede the goaltender from stopping Reinhart's shot. Rodrigues said he hadn't seen a detailed replay when he spoke to the media afterward, but felt that Greene might have made enough contact to force him into Schneider as they jostled for positioning.
"I was there for five, 10 seconds and I thought I was outside the crease," he said. "Their guy kind of comes, makes a little bit of contact with me. I don't think I purposefully went backwards into it, but there was some contact there. They made the call."
New Jersey led 2-1 at that point thanks to power-play goals from Blake Coleman and Pavel Zacha. Coleman opened the scoring 1:55 into the contest, cutting toward the net and beating Linus Ullmark from in tight.
The Sabres tied the game on Reinhart's goal later in the first period, then dominated the second to the tune of a 14-5 shot advantage. Yet it was the Devils who broke the 1-1 tie when Zacha took a shot from the outer edge of the left faceoff circle that went in off the post with 15:30 remaining.
New Jersey capped the scoring with an empty-net goal from Miles Wood with 1:25 left to play. Ullmark complemented the play in front of him after a 19-save performance, saying he saw strides from Buffalo's last two losses to Toronto and Montreal.
"I mean, we outshot them, out-chanced them, did a great job in our D-zone," Ullmark said. "They didn't get a lot of grade-A scoring chances, no rushes against. This is just how we're supposed to play, keep it tight and then capitalize on our chances."
While the Sabres are eliminated from playoff contention, frustration was evident in the dressing room afterward. Players remain focused on re-establishing a level of play they can take pride in entering the offseason.
This was the sort of effort they had in mind, apart from the outcome.
"If we play like that and start getting more results, it's not going to do anything from a standings standpoint," Reinhart said. "Internally in the room, it's going to lead to next year. That's where we're at, and that's where our focus is at for the next seven [games]."
