In the opener on Friday, the Devils rode a strong start to an early lead and withstood the Sabres’ attempt at a comeback. The Sabres responded by scoring the first goal on Saturday, which was jammed in by Tage Thompson from within the blue paint during the second period.
The Devils answered with a power-play goal from Seamus Casey before the end of the period, then pulled away with two goals during the third. Paul Cotter scored the go-ahead goal on a 2-on-1 rush following a turnover at the other end, then Timo Meier tacked onto the lead with 5:46 remaining.
“There’s one or two mistakes we make in the third, and they capitalize on it,” Thompson said. “I mean, we had our fair chances to score, and we didn’t. So, it’ s one of those games where, we bury one of those chances, it’s a whole other game going into the third.”
The Sabres went 0-for-2 on the power play and were outshot 37-18 in total. They earned a 64-62 advantage in shot attempts but had 26 blocked and 24 others miss the net.
“We’ve got to give them credit,” Thompson said. “They played hard. They didn’t make it easy on us getting pucks to the net. They blocked a lot and boxed out hard in front of the net. Just got to find a way to bear down and get another one. For the most part, one goal’s not going to win you a game. I think we knew that and just got to find a way to score more.”
Here’s more from the loss in Prague.
1. Peterka’s concussion was the result of an open-ice hit from Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon with 13:58 remaining in the first period. The hit was deemed a major penalty on the ice but reduced to a minor for interference after a review.
“Obviously you’ve got to kind of rely on referees to take a look at it,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “You don’t know if it’s a little late. You know, they made the call. The call is what it is, and the hit is what it is. You can’t look back now.”
Tuch saw the play out of the corner of his eye and immediately challenged Dillon to fight.
“I saw [Peterka] on the ground and I saw Dillon,” Tuch said. “I’ve played against Dillon since I first came in the league. So, that’s part of the game. If you’re going to hit one of our best guys, and it goes for any team in the league, you’re going to have to answer the bell.
“I’m no fighter by any means, but, I mean, that’s what you have to do. That’s what we do in this locker room for our teammates. Obviously, seeing it afterwards, that was a league and a ref call on the severity of the penalty. But you can’t let that go unanswered.”
The Sabres played the remainder of the game with 11 forwards. Jordan Greenway replaced Peterka on the top line alongside Thompson and Tuch and contributed to Buffalo’s lone goal of the game, which saw all three forwards crowd in front of Devils goaltender Jake Allen.
“I thought Greener did a really good job stepping in there, made some really nice plays,” Tuch said. “Obviously, we had the goal and could have had a couple more, too.”
