BUFFALO – Less than a week into the season, the Sabres have kept showcasing more of the maturity that helped buoy them to a thrilling 109-point campaign last year.
To wit: in each of the last two games, they’ve erased 2-0 deficits, roaring back for wins.
In Tuesday’s exciting 3-2 victory, which defenseman Owen Power won with 37.4 seconds left in overtime, they plowed forward after an iffy penalty and an awful non-call helped put the Minnesota Wild up 2-0.
“Getting worked up at the refs doesn’t really do anything positive for a group, just wasted energy on what you need to do out there,” said Sabres center Tage Thompson, who scored the tying goal for the second consecutive game. “So I thought our team did a really good job just kind of letting it go and focus on the next shift and our objective.”
Still, it likely wasn’t easy to move on as the capacity crowd of 19,070 fans in KeyBank Center howled in disgust.
First, winger Peyton Krebs, whose nifty feed later set up Thompson’s goal from the slot, was whistled for interference as the Sabres zoomed into the Minnesota zone. Danila Yurov scored on the ensuing power play 13:53 into the second period.
Then officials let a blatant interference call go when Minnesota’s Michael McCarron knocked down Sabres forward Josh Norris, who did not have the puck. The Wild went down the ice, and Maxim Shabanov made it 2-0 at 15:38.
“You have to battle through that,” said coach Lindy Ruff said, whose Sabres erased two deficits in Saturday’s home opener and beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. “Some nights you don’t get them. … But I thought our guys showed a lot of maturity just keep playing the game the right way.”
Power ignited another third-period comeback when his shot deflected off teammate Noah Ostlund – “That’s a pretty happy accident,” Power said – and past Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt at 3:55. Thompson tied it at 9:38.
As an entertaining overtime entered the waning seconds, Power jumped off the bench, grabbed a Jiri Kulich pass and beat Wallstedt from high in the slot.
“That was like a playoff game out there,” Ruff said.
After displaying some wonky defense in losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets and defeating Chicago, the Sabres buckled down Tuesday, holding the Wild to just 20 shots.
“We played a real good game,” Ruff said. “Played well defensively, generated a lot of opportunities. We missed too many opportunities early, but we talked about just sticking with it, getting one in the first 10 minutes and we could get back in the hockey game.”
Power surge
Power, who quietly developed into a high-end defender down the stretch last season, clearly has more confidence with the puck.
Through three games, he has scored one goal and a team-high five points.
“He’s really got himself off to a good start,” Ruff said. “Really skating well, moving the puck well. He’s finding people … breaking the puck out really well. I really like where he’s got his game. He’s stronger. He’s faster. He’s really moving out there.”
Power, who scored eight goals and 29 points in 81 outings last season, said he has “always felt comfortable in the offensive zone.”
“It’s just I’ve been fortunate to where the puck’s going in and getting some points early,” he said.
Strong goaltending
In his first start this season, Colten Ellis looked sharp throughout the night, making some critical stops.
“He was awesome,” Power said. “He kept us in it at 2-0 and shut the door. … He made some big saves for us, big saves in overtime.”
New lines
Around the end of the second period, with the Sabres struggling to get shots on Wallstedt – they recorded just 12 through the opening 40 minutes – Ruff began switching his lines.
Most notably, Thompson skated alongside Kulich and Krebs as Ruff shortened his bench in the third period.
“It was a night where it was kind of four lines for a while,” Ruff said. “And then when we got down by a couple of you’ve got to shorten it up and try to just pick the guys you think are going the best.”
In the third period, Ruff moved around his defense, pairing Power with captain Rasmus Dahlin.
Doan struggling
Sabres winger Josh Doan has had a tough go early this season, mustering zero points in the first three games.
On Tuesday, he took just three shifts in the first half of the third period and did not play in overtime.
“He’s just struggling right now,” Ruff said. “He had a little bit of a lower-body issue last game. I think it’s affecting his play. Although if you ask him, he’d say no.
“But he’ll find his game. I got all the faith in the world that he’ll get to his game. It’s the path that a young guy takes sometimes.”
