Postgame Report | Luukkonen makes 24 saves in overtime loss to Rangers

Effort is an intangible that isn't always measured on the scoreboard or in the stat sheet, but the Sabres were focused on playing with a renewed energy on Saturday night against the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center.
Their performance resembled more of what we've come to expect from the youngest team in hockey in the thick of an NHL playoff race, but the result was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Rangers.
"I think we played less tight than we have the last few games," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "I don't know if we got to fearless yet. I think there's a whole other level for us."

Buffalo had a handful of chances to score the go-ahead goal in the final minute but couldn't beat Igor Shesterkin. Dylan Cozens had a chance from the slot that Shesterkin turned away and Victor Olofsson had another chance at the side of the cage that was sent wide.
Overall, the Sabres believed they played well enough to beat the Rangers if not for a pair of fluky bounces.
Patrick Kane was credited with a goal on a shot that ricocheted off Owen Power's skate in the second period and Artemi Panarin found the puck on his stick with an open net after Adam Fox's shot from the point deflected off Zemgus Girgensons' stick.
"It's unlucky, but I think that tells you how well the defense played today," Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said. "They didn't give them much, so that's kind of what they needed today to score goals was to get a bounce. We played so well today as a five-man unit. It stinks even more because those are tough bounces, but you can't decide how the goals go in in the end."

Luukkonen stood toe-to-toe with the reigning Vezina Trophy winner at the other end of the rink. After allowing 10 goals to the Stars on Thursday night, the Sabres played collectively as a five-man unit and limited the potent Rangers attack for much of the night.
Buffalo shook off a slow start after the first ten minutes and largely dominated play for most of the final 50 minutes. Rasmus Dahlin was called for hooking 1:12 into overtime setting the table for New York's power-play to go to work in the extra period.
"I think we just needed to get through the first few minutes and into our game," Granato said. "We had some very unfortunate bounces at situations in the game. It was good that we didn't any in the first five or 10 minutes until we could breathe a little bit.
"I felt if we could get through that in the first, get a couple shifts in, any tension they brought forward from recent couple of games would be released and we'd be in the moment, and that was the case."
Jeff Skinner scored his 29th goal of the season and Luukkonen made 24 saves as the Sabres earned a point.

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How It happened

FIRST PERIOD
Sabres head coach Don Granato opted to start the game with his top line of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Jordan Greenway against the Rangers trio of Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane.
Over the course of the second half of the period, the Sabres were able to tilt the ice in their favor and generate more offense, outshooting the Rangers 5-2 in the period's final nine minutes.
SECOND PERIOD
In the second period, the action picked up. The Sabres came out charging and most importantly, shooting the puck, which has been a point of emphasis recently for Granato to his players. Buffalo fired four shots on Shesterkin in the first two minutes.
New York was hemmed into its own zone when Jacob Trouba hooked Jeff Skinner, but Buffalo was unable to covert on its first power play of the night.
Skinner later opened the scoring, burying a beautiful feed from Ilya Lyubushkin from the right circle at 7:51 of the second period.

New York evened the score at 11:28 on a bad bounce when Patrick Kane's shot attempted redirected off Owen Power's skate and through Luukonen's pads.
Thirty seconds later, Tyson Jost appeared to give the Sabres the lead when he gloved down a clearing attempt by Shesterkin and shot it into an empty net, but the referee's ruled the play was offsides as the Sabres were completing a line change in the Rangers' zone and a Buffalo player was exiting the ice as Jost intercepted the pass at the blue line.
Zemgus Girgensons was whistled for hooking as in the final minute of the period that carried over to the third.
Buffalo outshot New York 13-5 in the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
The Sabres killed off what was left of the Girgensons penalty to start the period.
Thompson made a beautiful, spinning pass to feed Jordan Greenway on the rush, but Shesterkin deflected the shot into the netting with his blocker.
Chris Krieder was whistled for interference with 6:15 remaining, giving the Sabres their second chance with the man advantage.
Buffalo made a strong offensive push at the end of regulation and went into overtime with a 33-23 edge in shots.
OVERTIME
With 3:48 left in the extra period, the Rangers went on the power play, and 50 seconds later, Panarin knocked in a rebound to give the Rangers the extra point.

What we learned

1. The line of JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn were reunited against the Rangers. The trio combined for 16 shot attempts. Peterka logged a game-high six shots on net.
   "You can see when they're fresh, they go. Today they were going," Granato said. "They probably deserved to score a couple. They were dynamic."
   2. The Sabres picked up a point and now have 69 through 65 games. At the end of the game, they trailed the Islanders by seven points in the Wild Card race with two games in hand. New York hosts Washington tonight.
   3. Buffalo is now 8-5 in overtime games and 10-6-5 in one-goal games this season.

Up Next

The Sabres begin a three-game road trip on Monday with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop against the Maple Leafs on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage begins at 7 on MSG.
The week-long roadie continues with dates against the Capitals on Wednesday night before wrapping up in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Friday, March 17.