When the Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche played at the beginning of December, the Avalanche came back from down 4-0 to beat the Sabres 5-4 in regulation. It was a loss that caused the Sabres to unravel. That was the fourth loss in what ended up being a 13-game winless streak that sent the Sabres to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
So when the Sabres had a 3-0 lead on the Avalanche in Colorado on Thursday night, that game might have snuck into the back of their minds. When Cale Makar scored a beautiful goal to cut the deficit to 3-1 at the end of the second period, that likely induced some anxiety. And when Ross Colton scored 1:05 into the third period to make it 3-2, the game started to feel familiar.
Unlike the previous matchup, the Sabres had an answer. Zach Benson scored 22 seconds after Colton’s goal. It was a controversial goal because Avalanche center Parker Kelly tossed Benson into Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood. The way Benson landed on Wedgewood’s leg caused Wedgewood to fall to the ice and begin writhing in pain. The play continued, and Benson ended up getting the puck back behind the net. He tucked in a wraparound for a goal, and the Avalanche were furious the referee never blew the whistle.
After a Colorado challenge for goalie interference, the goal stood. That gave the Sabres a 4-2 lead, but again the Avalanche had a push. Mikko Rantanen scored on a five-on-three power play, but the Sabres killed the rest of that power play to maintain a one-goal lead. Then Jason Zucker scored his third goal of the game to put the Sabres up 5-3 with 3:51 left.
JASON ZUCKER SCORES THE HAT TRICK‼️ 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/qDWo9Nk1xZ
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 3, 2025
They held that lead with less than three minutes remaining. This looked like a chance to forget about that early-December meltdown and earn an important road win. But the Avalanche weren’t done. They scored twice with the goalie pulled. First, Makar got his second goal of the game. Then, Jonathan Drouin scored with 6.8 seconds left to send it to overtime.
In overtime, Devon Toews stripped Tage Thompson of the puck, went down the ice on a breakaway and scored the game winner for Colorado. Despite leads of 3-0, 4-2 and 5-3, the Sabres found a way to lose. That’s been the story of their season. This overtime loss put their record at 14-20-5.
“That’s just another painful loss,” Lindy Ruff told reporters.
Zucker mentioned the Sabres’ details weren’t good enough on the six-on-five at the end of the game. Ruff pointed to a lack of composure in those closing minutes. Those are familiar themes in what is quickly becoming another painful season. Buffalo has the fourth-worst points percentage in the NHL and is in last place in the Eastern Conference by 3 points.
The Sabres have fallen too far to have a realistic chance at the playoffs. But their recent play had been encouraging before this lost lead. They won three straight games and then dropped a close one against the Dallas Stars. This group of players, many of whom are young and likely to stick together in Buffalo, needs to get beyond the inexplicable losses and lengthy losing streaks. How will they respond to this type of emotional loss? With another road game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, the Sabres don’t have much time to wallow.
Quick hits
1. Zucker’s hat trick and 4-point night helped the Sabres maintain the upper hand for the bulk of Thursday’s game. He’s impacting the game in a variety of ways. His assist was a sharp setup on the rush for Bowen Byram’s goal. He scored all three of his goals right at the net front. That’s been a strength of Zucker’s game, and it’s badly needed on a team that has struggled with that part of the game. Zucker now has 30 points this season. That signing has been a home run. The Sabres could use a few more experienced, productive players like Zucker in their lineup.
2. Thompson had two assists, and both were impressive plays. He had four shots on net and three individual scoring chances, and he wasn’t on the ice for a single high-danger chance against at five-on-five. But in overtime, Thompson’s offensive-zone turnover was costly. He had better options than skating the puck toward the boards the way he did. And losing that battle with Toews was costly. It overshadowed the good Thompson did in this one.
3. This wasn’t Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s best game. Of the six goals the Avalanche scored, only one came on a high-danger chance, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s not to say Luukkonen let in six soft goals. But the Sabres could have used another save or two from him late in the game.
4. I understand why the Avalanche were upset about the play continuing while Wedgewood got hurt. I don’t understand why they took out so much of that anger on Benson for the remainder of the game. Kelly was at fault for tossing Benson into his own goalie. The only thing Benson was guilty of was going to the net and playing to the whistle. The referee should have blown the whistle when Wedgewood was clearly injured. But Benson was just playing the game.
(Photo of Bowen Byram scoring past Scott Wedgewood: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
