Emotions are everywhere after Sabres’ comeback, OT loss

The Buffalo Sabers were frustrated, but still proud of the result. On an individual level, Dylan Cozens went from apoplectic to relieved in about 10 minutes.

The Vancouver Canucks should have been relieved and jubilant when goaltender Kevin Lankinen earned a piece of NHL history.

In the NHL world of three-point contests, that was the aftermath of Vancouver’s 4-3 overtime victory in front of a crowd of 18,059. The Canucks got their second point after a wild sequence in which Lankinen stopped Tage Thompson all alone with a backhand at the edge of the crease, and Conor Garland then tapped home a pass from Quinn Hughes 30 seconds later for the winning goal at 3:59 from OT

Lankinen improved to 9-0 on the road this season, tying the league record for best start away from home, set by Montreal’s Glenn Hall in 1965 and matched by Los Angeles’ Cam Talbot last season.

The Sabers outscored Vancouver 34-22 and the score was 18-6 in the third period. Lankinen held his ground and made 31 saves.

“Obviously it’s good to get a point out of the game,” said Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram, who tapped home a pass from Zach Benson for Buffalo’s first goal. “You want to get away with two as much as possible. It remains a disappointing defeat. I thought we played quite well, but if you don’t get two points in the end, it’s not a success.”

The game was tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes, but the Canucks built a 3-1 lead after Garland’s power-play goal at 5:15 and Pius Suter’s breakaway at 9:00. The Garland goal came with Cozens in the box for a relatively short holding penalty and then two extra minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“We played with desperation. It’s up to me to take that penalty and put us in that situation, but the boys fought back and we got a point,” Cozens said. “…I have to keep a cool head there. It’s on me. I hurt the team, it cost us there.”

“We discussed it on the bench. He knows how I feel,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “He knows he can’t do it. He would be the first to take over the responsibility. I did say the only way you can make it right is to get one back. We have to grow as a team. I have you said You have to be comfortable when you feel uncomfortable. Sometimes you don’t like the call, but you have to keep your composure… There are times in the game when you just have to show a lot of self-control.

Cozens connected on a wrist shot from the right circle at 13:18 to get Buffalo within 3-2 and the Sabers tied the game at 14:57 when Alex Tuch tipped home a Zach Benson shot from the right point.

“We played with desperation and that’s what this team has,” Cozens said. “We don’t have one and we’re going to fight until the final buzzer, just keep fighting until the game is over.”

Here are some more insights from the wild affair:

The Sabers barely touched the puck in the first 2½ minutes of OT and the crowd let out a loud cheer when they finally gained possession. The Canucks never got a shot on goal until they actually scored, but they confused Buffalo by keeping possession, with Hughes being the catalyst for the attack.

“He’s definitely a tough guy to chase,” Ruff said of Hughes, last season’s Norris Trophy winner, as the NHL’s best defenseman. “World-class skater who pushes his limits. … We had a great look. We had the right look. JJ (Peterka), a great play by Thompson. You have to give their goalie a lot of credit. He made a great save on the game and then they go the other way.

“He’s an incredible player,” Cozens said of Hughes. “They played the possession game well. They just kept rolling over their lines and didn’t give us any chances.”

The save in OT was just the last of Thompson’s good chances that didn’t find the net. After missing five games due to a lower body injury, he was held scoreless in his first two games despite getting six shots on goal in each game.

“I thought he could have had two or three goals tonight that he shot from,” Ruff said. “Sometimes when you come back from injury it takes one or two games, but obviously we need our best guys to get on the scoresheet otherwise you end up in games like this.”

The Sabers headed to the Big Apple after the game to face the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday night. They then host Colorado and former Saber Casey Mittelstadt on Tuesday in the opener of a five-game homestand that also includes games against Winnipeg, Utah, Detroit and the New York Rangers.

Forward Sam Lafferty suffered a lower-body injury in the second period and played just four minutes in the game. Ruff acknowledged that Lafferty won’t play Saturday and the Sabers recalled forward Tyson Kozak from Rochester to make his NHL debut.

Kozak, a 2021 seventh-round pick, is in his third season in Rochester and has five goals and one assist in 14 games for the Amerks this year.

Ruff also said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who has been out since Nov. 11 with a lower-body injury and is on a week-to-week basis, skated for the first time since the injury earlier Friday.