PITTSBURGH – The dagger came just 31 seconds after Buffalo Sabres winger Jack Quinn’s goal tied Wednesday’s game against the Penguins.
After seemingly seizing the momentum at the 7:20 mark of the third period, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen lost his stick as the Penguins buzzed around him.
When Bryan Rust maneuvered into the right circle holding the puck, Luukkonen faced a shot he would routinely stop. But without his stick, Rust’s shot slid through his pads at 7:51.
“It was definitely a killer,” coach Lindy Ruff said following the Sabres’ 4-2 loss in PPG Paints Arena.
While the Sabres crept within 3-2 – Quinn scored again, his fourth goal in the last three games, before the Penguins’ empty-netter sealed it – Rust’s goal essentially sealed their fate.
Some terrible puck play, a bugaboo all season, doomed the Sabres on Rust’s goal and Matt Dumba’s tally 17:09 into the game, the only excitement in an otherwise sleepy first period.
As Sabres defenseman Conor Timmins grabbed the puck near the center red line, he left a blind backhand pass for nobody.
Dumba pounced on the loose puck before beating Luukkonen from the top of the right circle. Luukkonen said the shot deflected off Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram’s stick.
Timmins’ ill-advised decision stunned Ruff.
“That’s a play that you’re advancing the puck, I don’t understand,” he said. “Unless the opposition called for it or I don’t know. It’s not a good decision. Our puck play there just killed us in a period that there wasn’t anything going.”
There wasn’t much happening throughout the night, as the teams treated the crowd of 17,543 fans to some low-event hockey.
As the game passed the halfway mark, the Sabres had just five shots on Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry. Finally, with about five minutes left in the second they started generating more scoring chances, and they had 11 shots through 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, on the other end, they mostly held the Penguins in check, limiting them to just 19 shots in the game.
Ruff said some long shifts stymied Buffalo’s offense early. For example, he said one line and one defense pair spent at least two minutes on the ice.
“You’re getting it out, they’re getting it right back in,” he said. “We got trapped in that situation where you’re trying to advance it and change players, and they’re coming right back at you. We’ve done that to teams.
“And I felt that last six, seven minutes of the second period and then the third period, we really got on our game and did the same thing to them.”
After Kevin Hayes put the Penguins up 3-1, Quinn scored again at 15:42 – he has a three-game goal streak following a 13-game drought – to give the Sabres some life.
“I think I’ve had a lot of chances lately and was in a bit of a slump, so I feel like you get some confidence when see one go in,” Quinn said.
In the moments before Connor Dewar’s empty-netter, winger Jason Zucker nearly tied the game, but Jarry, who made 29 saves, including 17 in the third period, thwarted his point-blank chance.
“I think we had some really solid things in the game, too, today,” Luukkonen said. “It’s frustrating we kind of let it slip away like that.”
The Sabres need to figure out in a hurry how to win on the road. If they don’t, the season could slip away.
The loss dropped them to a wretched 1-6-2 this season away from KeyBank Center. They play seven of their next nine contests on the road, including a six-game trip.
Notes: The Sabres scratched winger Jordan Greenway (load management), goalie Colten Ellis and defenseman Zach Metsa (both healthy). … The Sabres had zero power plays, while the Penguins had one. … The Sabres have today off before hosting the New Jersey Devils on Friday afternoon.
Kerplunk! That’s the sound of my beloved Sabres sinking once again to the bottom of the Atlantic …. just like the Titanic. Is anyone surprised? Timmins’ perfect pass to the flightless birds was one of the dumbest plays I have ever seen. Let’s move on from him. He is not an asset.