After a whirlwind of a game, the Sabres fell to the Hurricanes in overtime, 6-5.
The Sabres forced the game to overtime with Jeff Skinner’s second of the game, this one in the last 55.4 seconds of regulation and his 33rd goal of the season. Teuvo Teravainen sealed the victory for the Canes 3:25 into overtime, after Jack Eichel’s missed hard shot bounced around the glass, setting up an odd-man rush for Carolina.
Carolina OT winner pic.twitter.com/bIn4BWnoET
— Ben Mathewson (@Ben_Mathewson) February 8, 2019
Carolina’s Justin Faulk opened up scoring just 4:04 into the game — his seventh goal of the season. Teravainen made it 2-0 within the first minute and a half of the 2nd period. The Hurricanes maintained possession and sparked some action into the Sabres, knowing the playoff implications of this game.
Buffalo finally got their chance when they got a power play chance, and Evan Rodrigues took it, scoring his career-high eighth goal of the season, and his sixth in the last eight games. Nearing the end of the second period, Jason Pominville tied the game at two.
The 3rd period was where it got interesting. The Hurricanes started on the power play, but much like Buffalo’s 2nd-period chance scored not long after the man advantage expired. Greg McKegg pulled the Canes ahead in the third period. Buffalo’s top goalscorer came through moments later — Skinner tied the game, 3-3. It looked like it was game over for Buffalo after Carolina’s Brock McGinn scored his 5th of the season with 8:57 remaining. Teammate Nino Niederreiter then scored 3:55 later on a power play, but the Sabres rallied back one more only to lose in overtime.
ReinHART imo pic.twitter.com/nQ9GuOB1vL
— Ben Mathewson (@Ben_Mathewson) February 8, 2019
Sam Reinhart let out some frustration after the game stating:
“We can’t expect to win hockey games 6-5, 7-6. We need more from our goalie and we need it from the start of the hockey games. It’s frustrating.” – Reinhart
Carolina earned their eighth straight victory over Buffalo and pulled one point ahead of the Sabres in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres fell to 1-1-1 on their seven-game homestand and continue to struggle to gain another a multi-win run for almost two months now.
“We’ve got to be tougher to play against. We’ve got to start pushing guys out, boxing guys out,” Coach Phil Housley said following the overtime loss. “I give our guys credit for having the resiliency to get a point… Could be an important point moving forward.”
The Detroit Red Wings are the next opponent riding into Buffalo. The two teams will face off in a Saturday afternoon matinee at 1 pm.
