Canes Fall To Sabres In A Shootout

BUFFALO, NY. - The Carolina Hurricanes managed to get a point on Sunday but lost 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres in a four-round shootout.

Starting The Trip Right...

Kicking off a three-game trip that takes them to Buffalo, Minnesota, and Columbus this week, the trek couldn't have started any better for Carolina.

Just 2:40 in, on their very first shot of the night, Tony DeAngelo gave his team the early lead.

A phenomenal effort by Jack Drury to buy time for his group along the wall allowed a pretty passing connection between Martin Necas and Michael Bunting to come to fruition, setting up a slam dunk for #77.

The first goal since December 15 for DeAngelo put the Canes in a good spot to start the night.

Using eight blocked shots and eight saves from Spencer Martin the rest of the period, Carolina was able to take their lone tally to the second period.

Head-Scratching Second...

Working with the lead, Rod Brind'Amour's group then ran into some trouble during the middle 20.

Buffalo came back out of their locker room with a sizeable pushback, and aside from one or two shifts, they largely dominated the stanza.

Carolina looked discombobulated on offense, and as a result, the Sabres were able to even the contest.  Former Hurricane Jeff Skinner cashed in on the power play, emphasizing the need for the visitors to curate something.

That "something" nearly came in the final few minutes of the period, when Teuvo Teravainen beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but a seemingly errant whistle negated the tally.

The officials quickly stated that the play was dead due to a hand pass, but several camera angles showed that the puck did not even touch Jesperi Kotkaniemi's glove.

In what would go on to be a tight third period, this was a critical "could have been" in the contest.

Pulled Away & Then Pulled Back...

In the final frame of regulation, Carolina looked lethargic once more.

Playing their third game in four nights, Brind'Amour said post-game that he felt that this was going to happen, however, the team still had a chance to win the game.

With 5:18 to go in the third, Martin Necas cashed in for the Canes on the power play, and it felt like that would serve as the game-winning goal.

Instead, just 73 seconds later, Buffalo made it a 2-2 game via Owen Power.

Despite the third goal in four games for the man advantage for Carolina, the game needed overtime, their 12th of the season.

The Skills Competition...

Although they dominated possession in the extra session, the Canes were unable to find a winner during the five minutes of three-on-three, necessitating a shootout.

In four rounds there was just one goal scored, coming off the tape of Casey Mittelstadt.

Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, and Necas were all held out, putting Carolina on the wrong side of the 3-2 final score.

They Said It

Rod Brind'Amour on the loss...

"We were pretty awful, to be quite honest. We were just mentally not there. That's what happens with a tough schedule. Three games in four nights, with travel. I could just feel it on the bench. We were just not sharp. Thankfully, the one guy that was rested, [Spencer] Martin, he got us a point. We were not good tonight."

Jordan Staal giving his thoughts...

"That wasn't great. There wasn't really anyone that showed up and played well besides Spence. We had a little push in the third, but then we got worse. We were fortunate to get a point. We'll move on from here."

Martin Necas describing what needs to be different on offense, as Carolina has now scored just four goals in three games...

"Definitely get more [pucks] to the net. Teams change the way they play a little bit, they have more layers of blockers. We need to figure out a way to get the puck to the net. That's the most important thing. Once it gets blocked, the grind really goes away. We haven't gotten much o-zone time lately and that's what needs to change."

What's Next?

The Canes will fly to Minnesota immediately post-game. They're scheduled to practice on Monday before returning to game action on Tuesday against the Wild.

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