Alex Lyon, Noah Ostlund get Sabres to OT before losing to Mammoth

BUFFALO – On one hand, the Sabres’ penchant for taking games to overtime is encouraging. Every point is precious, and they’ve guaranteed themselves at least one in each of their last five games.

On the other, well, how about they start winning some of those contests?

The Sabres have lost just once in regulation in their last 10 outings, yet they’re 5-1-4 in that stretch.

On Tuesday, they fell 2-1 to the Utah Mammoth when Clayton Keller scored 47 seconds into overtime in KeyBank Center.

During their five-game overtime streak, they Sabres have won just once, Saturday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals.

“It means that we’re competitive and we’re staying in there, and I almost hate to say that,” goalie Alex Lyon said of the Sabres reaching overtime. “But if we find a way to keep getting points, find a way to continue to stick around, that’s a good thing. I also think the next step is available for us where maybe we start to take over.”

Sooner or later, things have to even out, right?. The Sabres have certainly had plenty of chances since their odd run in the three-on-three overtime began Oct. 25.

“We had the opportunity again tonight, we didn’t finish,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the biggest difference is, when you get that, you have to finish.”

On Tuesday, after Sabres winger Alex Tuch pumped a shot on goalie Karel Vejmelka, Ruff said if his players stopped in front of the net, they could’ve changed and gotten fresh bodies on the ice.

Instead, the tired players went down the ice.

“Then our coverage wasn’t good enough,” Ruff said. “We lost coverage again on the high cycle, and we let Keller walk in. He shouldn’t get that easy a look.”

Keller zoomed by Tuch and winger Jack Quinn before beating Lyon, who stopped 33 shots and was the Sabres’ biggest difference-maker before the crowd of 16,202 fans.

Lyon, a career backup, has emerged as the Sabres’ backbone. On Tuesday, his 10th appearance, he looked sharp all night, bailing out a team missing a slew of regulars to injury.

“With the number of bodies and the pieces we had to move around, we needed our goalie to play well,” Ruff said. “He played really well for us.”

So did Sabres rookie Noah Ostlund, who scored his first NHL goal in his 13th outing after being recalled from the Rochester Americans earlier in the day.

Ostlund, who centered Quinn and rookie Isak Rosen most of the night, enjoyed perhaps his best outing with the Sabres last week before briefly returning to the AHL.

“I like how that line played,” Ruff said. “I thought, for the most part, that was probably our biggest threat, usually, when those guys were on the ice. So it was a good night.

“I thought Noah’s game, defensively, played really well. Helped us get out of our end in a hurry. And a well-deserved goal.”

Ostlund tied the game 7:50 into the third period, beating Vejmelka in close after Rosen deflected the puck in front when Ostlund’s shot from the slot hit the glass behind the net.

“It was a cool moment,” Ostlund said.

With so many injuries, the neophytes’ contributions are significant.

“We need their skill, we need their scoring ability that they’ve shown in the minors,” Ruff said. “This is the next step for them. This is the opportunity they’re waiting for that, all of a sudden, they get 14, 15 minutes, and I think they’ve taken advantage of it. Both guys have played extremely well for us.”

The goal marked the third game in the past eight days that a Sabre has scored his first NHL goal. Rosen scored Saturday. Forward Josh Dunne scored in last Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It marked the first time three Sabres have recorded their first NHL goal in eight days or fewer since Richard Smehlik, Viktor Gourdiouk and Yuri Khmylev all scored in October 1992.

The Sabres sprinkled just 18 shots on Vejmelka, including nine in the first period. They also passed up opportunities or missed the net.

Nick Schmaltz opened the scoring 3:58 into the third period.