Levi stops 31 in NHL debut, Sabres defeat Rangers in OT

BUFFALO -- Devon Levi made 31 saves in his NHL debut, and the Buffalo Sabres recovered for a 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center on Friday.

The 21-year-old signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres on March 17 shortly after his junior season with Northeastern University ended. He was selected by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round (No. 212) of the 2020 NHL Draft and traded to Buffalo on July 24, 2021.
Levi is the eighth goalie to win his NHL debut with the Sabres.
"It was a dream come true," Levi said. "I've dreamt of that moment my whole life. To have my family and friends here as well, who have been dreaming for this moment also their whole lives with me, it's just incredible to have that support. … The guys played a [heck] of a job in front of me, letting me see the puck and just letting me do my thing.
"The game went by fast. I was having fun. I guess when you're having fun, things go fast. It honestly just went by in a blur. It was just, like, amazing."

Jeff Skinner scored from the slot at 1:50 of overtime after Adam Fox jammed in a loose puck in a scramble at the crease to tie it 2-2 at 9:45 of the third period for New York.
"[Casey Mittelstadt] obviously, nice play on the entry and passed it to me," Skinner said. "I tried to get it through the seam there. Obviously, they got a little bit of a stick on there. I tried to stick with it. It was kind of rolling, so I just tried to get some good wood on it, and fortunately it sort of found the hole there."

JJ Peterka and Jordan Greenway scored for the Sabres (36-31-7), who are 3-0-1 in their past four games. Buffalo moved within five points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Sabres have a game in hand.
Kaapo Kakko scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves for the Rangers (44-21-11), who have lost two straight. New York moved within three points of the New Jersey Devils for second in the Metropolitan Division; the Devils defeated the Rangers 2-1 on Thursday.
"I'm [ticked] off tonight because we want to win hockey games," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "That's what we're here for. We clinched (a berth in the playoffs), what, a week ago (Monday), and it seemed like we clinched and then the season's over. It's not the way it's supposed to work.
"You're supposed to compete every night and try and play hard, and do the best you can. I didn't like the way we played tonight at all."
Peterka gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the first period, shoveling in a no-look backhand pass from Dylan Cozens through the slot from below the right circle.
Buffalo outshot the Rangers 12-2 in the first period.
"Not a great start again," Gallant said. "It's typical."
Greenway, in his return after missing four games with an upper-body injury, made it 2-0 at 7:39 of the second period. He fended off Rangers defenseman Ben Harpur on a drive to the net and one-handed a shot from the right circle short side on Halak.
"We kind of get into the flow of the game and then we start playing but it's not going to work," New York captain Jacob Trouba said. "That's not a sustainable way to play hockey."

Kakko cut it to 2-1 at 12:17, batting in a floating puck from in front off a Filip Chytil pass attempt.
Kakko nearly tied it at 18:36 with a one-timer from the left circle but Levi got across and sprawled to make the save, prompting chants of "Le-vi! Le-vi!" from the crowd.
The chants continued, including early in the third period after Levi made a pad save on a Barclay Goodrow spin-shot from the slot and stretched the pad to deny Jimmy Vesey on the rebound.
"It was unbelievable," Levi said. "The fans were unreal. It's so nice having that support coming in as a new guy. It just makes it so much easier, to have a warm welcome from everyone. All the fans just like cheering your name, it's unbelievable. You know, I can't take credit for the win. The guys played a [heck] of a game also in front of me."
NOTES: Fox has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games. … Levi (21 years, 94 days) is the third-youngest goalie in Buffalo history to win his NHL debut after Tom Barrasso (18 years, 188 days) and Daren Puppa (20 years, 223 days). … Levi made 19 saves in the third period, tied for third-most in a period in Sabres history, behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (21) and Ryan Miller (20). … Peterka scored for a second straight game, becoming the fourth Buffalo rookie in the past 10 years to score in consecutive games multiple times in a season. … Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson played 22:13 and had three hits in his return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.