Luukkonen makes 35 saves, Sabres defeat Blues for 3rd straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves for the Buffalo Sabres in their third straight win, 4-2 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Sunday.

“‘Luukky’ was incredible,” Sabres forward Jason Zucker said. “We did enough to keep them to the outside, limit some of their Grade-A chances, but we found ourselves on our heels.”

Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (14-19-4), who had lost 13 straight (0-10-3) prior to their winning streak. Jack Quinn had two assists.

“We bent but we didn’t break and we held tough in our own end,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “You have to win games a different way. The special teams won us the game. It’s something we’ve been dying to see all year. I thought that power-play goal in the third period is something that’s been missing.”

The Sabres were 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Blues were 0-for-4, something St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery lamented.

“It’s frustrating. We did a lot of good things 5-on-5,” Montgomery said. “Bottom line for this game is our game management – especially in the third period – wasn’t good enough, and our special teams were not good enough.

“We’re not protecting (the penalty kill). Our sticks haven’t been great on the PK. We’re getting seamed. The last goal is a good example of us getting seamed. You’ve got to protect the middle of the ice and give our goalies a better chance at the saves that they should be expecting to see.”

Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues (17-17-4), who had won two straight but failed to put together a three-game winning streak for the sixth time this season (0-5-1). Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 16 shots for St. Louis, which will next face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Discover NHL Winter Classic on Tuesday (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

“That’s the game sometimes, right, where you feel like you played well 5-on-5, had opportunities to score and didn’t go in, but at the same time, we know we have to tighten up special teams, especially in the second half,” Schenn said. “That’s how you win hockey games is by being in the positive of special teams most nights. We just haven’t really done that lately.”

Walker scored for the Blues to tie it 2-2 at 5:56 of the third period on a rebound at the right post after Luukkonen stopped Colton Parayko’s shot from below the right circle.

Zucker's power-play goal at 10:30, a one-timer from the slot, put Buffalo back ahead 3-2.

“I thought we were kind of on our heels for a little while there,” Zucker said. “Honestly for most of the game. It wasn’t our best game. … Drawing that penalty there late that allowed us to get that power-play goal was huge.”

Jiri Kulich passed it to himself off the left-side boards as he broke out of the defensive zone and beat Binnington from a tight angle below the left circle for the 4-2 final at 16:19.

Peyton Krebs put Buffalo ahead 1-0 at 6:52 of the first period, his first goal in 16 games, on the Sabres’ first shot of the game. Kulich won a face-off back to Bowen Byram, who passed to Rasmus Dahlin for a one-timer that found Krebs for a tap-in at the right post.

Thompson scored a power-play goal to make it 2-0 at 13:06. He took a pass from Zucker on a 3-on-2 rush and beat Binnington with a snap shot from the slot.

“Early on we were opportunistic,” Ruff said. “We got a couple good opportunities and we buried the chances. Early on in the game, I thought they were just a step ahead of us. They beat us to a lot of pucks, awfully mobile ‘D’ that got up ice and caused us a lot of problems.”

Schenn cut it to 2-1 at 15:47 when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease after Parayko’s slap shot wasn’t handled cleanly by Luukkonen.

When St. Louis tied the game 2-2, the Blues felt that they would be able to win the game but were let down by poor game management.

“When you’re in control of the game, you tie it up 2-2 and the crowd is into it, you’ve got to keep playing north, you’ve got to keep pucks out of the middle, and you can’t take penalties,” Montgomery said. “Unfortunately, it’s a bad time to take a penalty.”

NOTES: Thompson has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak. … Quinn has six points (two goals, four assists) in a three-game point streak. … The Sabres have outscored their opponents 17-5 during their winning streak. … Blues forward Jordan Kyrou’s 13-game home point streak (eight goals, six assists) ended. … Parayko has five points (one goal, four assists) in a three-game point streak.