At the Horn | Utah Hockey Club 5 - Sabres 2

The Buffalo Sabres lost 5-2 to the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday at Delta Center.

After Buffalo overcame a pair of one-goal deficits, Utah’s Dylan Guenther scored the game winner with 5:47 remaining.

James Reimer got his first start in net for Buffalo since March 3 at Montreal. He made 25 saves on 28 shots, including seven high-danger saves, per Natural Stat Trick.

Sabres forward JJ Peterka re-entered the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He scored a power-play goal and tallied a game-high six shots in 21:01 of ice time. Ryan McLeod scored Buffalo’s other goal, while Zach Benson was scratched due to illness.

Mikhail Sergachev scored two goals for Utah, one into an empty net. Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund (empty net) also scored, and goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 of 28 shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Rasmus Dahlin drew an early holding penalty and also had the best chance on the power play. Vejmelka robbed his one-timer with a glove save, though, maintaining the scoreless tie.

Utah got its first man advantage moments later but the Sabres killed it off, aided by Bowen Byram’s kneeling block of a cross-crease pass.

Cooley opened the scoring for Utah at 17:27 after a failed Sabres clearing attempt created a 2-on-0 in front of Reimer.

Thirty seconds later, Reimer denied Josh Doan alone in front.

Buffalo got a late-period power play and Peterka tied the game with 10 seconds remaining. A snappy passing play saw Jason Zucker make a one-touch feed across the slot to an open Peterka, who buried the one timer for his 20th goal of the season. It marked Buffalo’s fifth power-play goal in the last four games.

Second Period

Beck Malenstyn appeared to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead just 11 seconds into the middle frame, deflecting Tyson Kozak’s toss to the net past Vejmelka. Utah challenged for goalie interference, though, and a lengthy review determined Malenstyn had brushed past Vejmelka while in the blue paint. No goal.

Peterka was stopped on a breakaway four minutes into the period.

Sergachev scored for Utah 11:50 into the period, firing a point shot through a heavily screened Reimer.

Reimer made a diving check to prevent an alone-in-front Nick Schmaltz from attempting a backhand shot; the play looked like a sure goal, but Buffalo’s netminder kept the Sabres within one.

Third Period

McLeod tied the game on a shorthanded breakaway 1:32 into the third. He retrieved an errant Utah pass in the neutral zone, sped up ice and roofed a backhand shot for his second shorthanded goal of the season. McLeod also extended his point streak to a career-high-tying five games, with two goals and three assists during the span.

Reimer lost his stick in a mid-period collision with Stenlund but proceeded to make a series of tough saves, preserving the 2-2 tie.

Guenther scored on a rebound with 5:47 remaining, giving Utah its third lead of the night.

The Sabres pulled Reimer with two minutes on the clock and drew a penalty, but a wayward pass during the delayed penalty found the empty net to make it 4-2. Sergachev added an empty netter en route to the 5-2 final.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

The Sabres head to Minnesota for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Wild. Coverage on MSG begins at 1:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 2.