Sabres fall in first visit to Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Ryan McLeod’s shorthanded goal tied the game early in the third period, but the Buffalo Sabres lost 5-2 to the Utah Hockey Club in their first-ever visit to Delta Arena on Thursday.

The Sabres erased a pair of one-goal deficits on goals from JJ Peterka and McLeod, the latter of which evened the score at 2-2 with 18:28 left to play.

Dylan Guenther buried a rebound from beside the net for what stood as the game-winning goal for Utah with 5:47 remaining. The Sabres pushed for a third comeback, but a late 6-on-4 power play was diffused when an attempted pass by Tage Thompson in the offensive zone banked off the wall and into their own empty net.

The goal – which was credited to Kevin Stenlund – came during a delayed call against Stenlund for high-sticking. Thompson said he was unaware of the penalty when he attempted the pass, which was directed toward Rasmus Dahlin at the point.

“It was kind of a scrambly play and I was just kind of filling a spot,” Thompson said. “We get the puck and I wasn’t really aware there was a delayed call. Had that been the case then, yeah, I probably would have just tried to attack or shoot and make them touch it.

“But yeah, they were kind of sitting there and I thought I had a lane to Dahls at the top, and it just went through everybody. So, bad play by me and even worse result.”

The Sabres proceeded to have a 6-on-4 power play down 4-2. Mikhail Sergachev added a second empty-net goal for Utah’s fifth of the night, producing a lopsided final score that was not indicative of what had been a competitive, tightly played game.

“It was a pretty tight game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I mean, it was a hard-fought game.”

Following a low-event start for both sides, Logan Cooley opened the scoring for Utah with 2:33 remaining in the first period. Cooley’s goal was the result of pressure from Utah captain Clayton Keller, who deflected an attempted breakout pass by McLeod toward the front of the Buffalo net. The bounce set up Nick Schmaltz and Cooley with a 2-on-0 in front of goaltender James Reimer.

“We had got off to a good start to the game,” Ruff said. “I thought we were playing well, moving the puck well. We turned that over, they made us pay dearly for it.”

Buffalo responded with 10 seconds left in the period in the form of a power-play goal from Peterka, who returned after missing the past three games with a lower-body injury. Peterka buried a low-angled one-timer from the right circle.

The Sabres appeared to take the lead on the opening shift of the second period when Beck Malenstyn deflected a shot past goaltender Karel Vejmelka. The play was called a goal on the ice but overturned following a Utah challenge, which ruled that Malenstyn had made contact with Vejmelka’s blocker in the crease.

Vejmelka turned away subsequent chances for the Sabres to take the lead, including a Peterka breakaway that skimmed off the goaltender’s shoulder. Instead, Sergachev scored through traffic on a shot from the point to put Utah ahead 2-1 midway through the period.

Buffalo opened the third period shorthanded, which set the stage for McLeod’s tying goal. McLeod initiated the play by breaking up a pass across the blue line in the defensive zone. Seconds later, he collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced for a breakaway, which he finished by roofing a backhand shot from in tight.

The play extended McLeod’s point streak to six games.

“Great kill, great play by Clouder,” Thompson said. “Great finish gives us a tie game and a little less than 20 minutes to go. It just got away from us.”

Guenther’s goal came on a broken play, which began with a shot that was blocked by Sabres rookie Tyson Kozak on its way to Reimer. Barrett Hayton was in front to shovel the rebound to Guenther, who had an open look from beside the net.

“These last couple games we’ve played, we’ve been playing really solid,” Reimer said. “We found a way to win the last couple and tonight was just one of those games where you play hard and they get a bounce.”

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Reimer made 27 saves in his first appearance since March 3. The veteran goaltender received help in the form of 18 blocked shots but matched the battle of his defenders, fighting through traffic to make saves on long-range Utah shots. Reimer also stopped a potential goal with a diving poke check on Schmaltz.

Ruff said the Sabres entered their current four-game road trip – which opened Monday in Boston – with the intention to give Reimer the game in Utah as well as one of their upcoming back-to-back games in Minnesota or Winnipeg.

“I thought Reimer played great,” Ruff said. “We did a good job of getting him into the game and then he responded with quite a few quality saves when we needed them. So, we’re going to need him. We’ve got a lot of games coming up.”

2. The Sabres scored a power-play goal for the fourth straight game and improved to 7-for-24 in the last eight games dating back to March 8.

Buffalo killed off all four Utah penalties, meanwhile, improving to 7-for-7 over the past three games.

3. Zach Benson missed the game due to an illness. He was replaced in the lineup by Peterka, who skated 21:01 and had six shots in his return from injury.

Up next

The road trip concludes with back-to-back games in Minnesota and Winnipeg on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Coverage on Saturday begins at 1:30 p.m. on MSG. The puck drops at 2.