Postgame Report

ST. LOUIS – Jason Zucker felt the Buffalo Sabres were not at their best on Sunday – and that was a good thing, given the result.

The Sabres played a patient, structured defensive game to weather pushes from the St. Louis Blues and bookended it with opportunistic special teams to win 4-2 at Enterprise Center, their third straight victory.

The manner in which they won – outshot 37-16 but victorious nonetheless – was a testament to strides made since their 13-game winless streak ended six days ago.

“I think the poise was good,” Zucker said. “I think a couple weeks ago, that would have been a really tough loss for us. We learned from it and (we’re) kind of finding what we call a ‘B-game.’ We definitely didn’t have our best, and I thought that was a good sign for us.”

The Sabres built a 2-0 lead on early goals from Peyton Krebs and Tage Thompson, but the Blues – who were 8-4-3 in their previous 15 games – responded with an active forecheck to apply pressure in the Buffalo zone.

St. Louis chipped away at the deficit with a first-period goal from Brayden Schenn, then tied the game when Nathan Walker buried a rebound at 5:56 of the third period.

Rather than let the moment compound into further adversity, the Sabres stuck to their plan until a strong shift from the line of Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod, and Sam Lafferty resulted in a cross-checking penalty against the Blues. Zucker scored the winning goal on the ensuing power-play.

“We bent, but we didn’t break, and we held tough in our own end,” coach Lindy Ruff said.

Lindy Ruff addresses the media.

Despite lopsided advantages in shots and shot attempts (50-19) at 5-on-5, the Blues managed just seven high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Sabres stayed tight in their own zone, kept the Blues to the outside, and cleared lanes of vision for goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was strong as the last line of defense in a 35-save performance.

Patient play with the puck, meanwhile, limited rush chances against.

“Just playing simple, detailed hockey,” Thompson said. “Kind of a boring game to play, but you’ve got to do that when you’re not feeling your best. I thought that was just a mature game all-around from us. Obviously, it wasn’t our A-game, but we found a way to get it done against a really good team.”

A successful night on special teams was a key ingredient to the win. Along with power-play goals from Thompson and Zucker, the Sabres were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Mattias Samuelsson led the way with 5:30 in shorthanded ice time while Bowen Byram skated 4:06 shorthanded and had four blocked shots.

“You have to win games in different ways,” Ruff said. “Our special teams won us a game, that’s something we’ve been dying to see all year.”

Here’s more from the victory in St. Louis.

FINAL | Sabres 4 - Blues 2

1. Krebs opened the scoring 6:52 into the contest thanks to a deceptive pass from Byram, which was reminiscent of plays Rasmus Dahlin had made to set up goals in the Sabres’ previous two victories.

Byram, stationed at the blue line for a pass from Dahlin, wound up as if he were going to fire a one-timer on net. Instead, he slapped a pass to the back side of the net, where Krebs was waiting for a tap-in goal.

Dahlin earned the secondary assist on the play, his seventh in the last three games – tying the franchise record for a defenseman in a three-game stretch.

2. The Sabres scored two very different – but equally crucial – power-play goals. The first, from Thompson, came on the rush. Jack Quinn sent the Sabres into the zone 3-on-2 and Thompson buried his shot from high in the slot.

Buffalo’s top power-play unit set up in the offensive zone for Zucker’s goal, with four bodies rotating along the outside as Zucker snuck into open space near the slot. Quinn made a quick feed to set up the one-timer.

“Just a great rotation,” Ruff said. “We got them moving up top and then went down low. He just found that soft spot in between the kill. That’s an area that, if you can find that and get the shot away and hit your mark, you’ll get a goal there.”

3. Quinn, with two assists on Sunday, has six points in the past three games.

4. The Sabres received added cushion late in the form of a 200-foot effort from rookie Jiri Kulich, who picked the puck up deep in his own zone, blew by two defenders up the ice and sent a shot between the pads of goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Kulich, a first-round offensive talent who led Rochester in goals each of the past two seasons, earned his stay in the NHL early this season thanks to his defensive reliability. His production has followed of late, with five goals and two assists in the last 10 games.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Zucker said. “Honestly, he’s been a great defensive forward for us. He’s playing a well-rounded game right now and it’s fun to see him scoring. He’s got so much talent. His game’s only getting better. For all of us in here, we’re just trying to help him grow and get better as an individual player. He’s helping us a lot right now.”

5. Luukkonen earned his third straight win in goal while serving as the backbone of the successful night for the penalty kill with seven shorthanded saves. His stop on a point-blank put-back attempt by Oskar Sudqvist prevented the Blues from tying the game late in the first period.

Up next

The Sabres continue their four-game road trip in Dallas on Tuesday. Coverage on MSG begins at 7:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 8.