Sabres play with passion until the end in loss to Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres thought they had their game Friday night against the New York Rangers tied up with 56.2 seconds left, but what looked like a good goal was called back following video replay because it was determined the Sabres entered the zone offside.
Buffalo came right back and kept the pressure on, hitting a post and having two shots blocked in the final 35 seconds, but couldn't find the back of the net again in what ended up being a 2-1 loss at KeyBank Center.
On the goal that was called back, the NHL's Situation Room ruled that Rasmus Dahlin entered the zone ahead of puck carrier Victor Olofsson.
So as Buffalo celebrated Olofsson's shot that went off defenseman Patrik Nemeth and past Alexandr Georgiev, the officials were gathering near the penalty box and receiving word from the NHL offices that the goal would not count.

Sabres coach Don Granato said he asked the officials if they could review the play to see if Rasmus Dahlin had tagged up before Victor Olofsson entered the Rangers zone. However, the NHL made the final call and Granato trusts they made the right decision.
"My job is to make sure our team is ready and I can't be distracted by that," he said.
Buffalo responded immediately and generated some quality scoring chances with their own net empty.
Tage Thompson hit the post and both Jeff Skinner and Olofsson had shots blocked. Just before the final horn sounded, Dylan Cozens was tripped on a slew foot by Barclay Goodrow, which caused a scrum near the Zamboni entrance after the final horn sounded.

"It's a wave of emotion, but I credit our guys to stay on it," Granato said. "Tommer hit the post right after that. So that shows you the belief system was, 'OK, we got some bad news, but let's drop the puck. Let's go. We believe we can do it.' That was all the way to the end."
Granato has spoken more than a few times recently about the need for his team to play with passion. Both he and the players thought they met that challenge, particularly in the final 40 minutes.

"We have a very competitive group. Guys want to win, play for each other and I thought you saw that tonight - not by the result, but by the effort," Thompson said.
"Guys standing up for each other and working and battling until the end of the game there. If you're doing the little things consistently, wins are going to take care of themselves. It's just making sure we're playing the right way and tonight, I thought we did."
Brett Murray scored Buffalo's lone goal with 5:23 left in regulation and jumpstart Buffalo's offensive push.
The Sabres outshot the Rangers 18-7 in the third period.
Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers. Georgiev ended up with 36 saves.

Luukkonen strong in net

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was a big reason why the Sabres were able to hang in the game. The rookie netminder made his second straight start and stopped 29 shots.
"He definitely would want that second goal (against) back, but it didn't phase him, it didn't affect him," Granato said. "He looked every bit as confident and big in the net, and he made plenty of saves to keep us close enough where he had a chance in the end."
Luukkonen is up with Buffalo because of a slew of injuries to their netminders. Craig Anderson is out month to month with an upper-body injury while Dustin Tokarski is still in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Malcolm Subban could be back as soon as Saturday from an injury he sustained last week.
In the interim, Luukkonen has stopped 50 of the 54 shots he's faced over the past two games (.926 save percentage).
With under three minutes to play in the second period, Luukkonen came up with two huge saves.
First, he made a pad save in front on a Zibanejad with 3:06 remaining. Then he went from his left to his right to stone Chris Kreider with a blocker save as Kreider tried to score on a one-timer.
He also stopped a 3-on-1 on the shift before Murray's goal.
"He's been great. We've given him one goal in two games. Obviously, that's not enough. He's been fantastic," alternate captain Kyle Okposo said. "He made three or four 10 dollars tonight. If he keeps playing like that, he's going to give us a chance to win every night. …He stepped in and played great."

Back-to-back set concludes Saturday

Buffalo closes out the three-game homestand Saturday night. The Washington Capitals, who lost 4-2 at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, will be in town.
Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage on MSG starting at 6:30. Tickets to the game are on sale now.