Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd Total 
Sabres1 1 1 3 
Rangers0 0 2 2
Round Shooter Result Shooter Result 1 Jack Eichel❌ 
Dylan Larkin🚨 2 Sam Reinhart❌ Andreas Athanasiou🚨
Nick Schmaltz notched the shoot-out winner, Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a shootout Monday night at KeyBank Center.
Jeff Skinner provided the prettiest goal of the night, as he executed a beautiful give-and-go weave with Marcus Johansson in the offensive zone, that saw Johansson draw both Arizona defenders to him, allowing his pass to be cleanly one-timed into the net by the diminutive winger. It was Skinner’s 7th of the young season and provided a spark in the arena as the Sabres at that point, had a 2-0 lead.
Skinner, Johansson, back to Skinner 2-0 #sabres50 pic.twitter.com/7vkwhNNG9d
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) October 28, 2019
From that point though, Arizona carried long stretches of play in the neutral and offensive zones. Considering Arizona came into the game 7th in the NHL in High-Danger Corsi-for Percentage, it’s not surprising that they were able to create dangerous scoring opportunities. Despite that, it was a rather innocuous play that opened the scoring for the visitors.
Per. Time EV Goal Assist Assist 1 5:43 
Nicklas Backstrom (1)Alex Ovechkin (1) T.J. Oshie (1) 1 8:48 PPG 
Taylor Hall (1)Victor Olofsson (1) Jack Eichel (1) 1 10:33 PPG T.J. Oshie (1)Alex Ovechkin (2) John Carlson (1) 2 7:05 John Carlson (1)T.J. Oshie (2) Nicklas Backstrom (1) 2 13:23 Brenden Dillon (1)Conor Sheary (1) Lars Eller (1) 2 18:46 Tobias Rieder (1)Dylan Cozens (1) Jake McCabe (1) 3 0:20 Jake McCabe (1)Jack Eichel (2) Tage Thompson (1) 3 0:46 Jakub Vrana (1)--- --- 3 18:06 Victor Olofsson (1)Taylor Hall (1) Sam Reinhart (1) 3 18:57 EN Garnet Hathaway (1)Nick Jensen (1) ---
Conor Garland corralled the puck on goaltender Carter Hutton’s left and had no other play but to fire it on the short-side. Hutton at first glance appeared to have everything covered, but a small opening between his glove and pad proved to be just enough space for Garland, as he halved the lead.
Jack Eichel and Carl Soderberg each scored power-play goals of their own for their respective clubs as part of the 2-2 tie in regulation.
The overtime period had everything you’d want as a Sabres fan….except a goal. The Sabres hit multiple posts by great shots by Sam Reinhart and Casey Mittelstadt, but could not end this one in the extra session, thus leading to Schmaltz’ game-deciding shoot-out goal. The loss prevented Buffalo from becoming only the second team in franchise history to start the home schedule 6-0.
The loss can’t be handed to Carter Hutton, as he was excellent in net for Buffalo, making 42 saves on 44 shots on net.
"Carter Hutton take a bow!" 👏 @Dan_Dunleavy #sabres50 pic.twitter.com/oLD8KbTwxt
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) October 29, 2019
Hutton responded beautifully to the sub-standard effort he and his teammates put on in his last start against the Rangers. It was highly-encouraging seeing his calm, poised demeanor for the majority of the contest.
Though he faced far less rubber, Kuemper was very good for Arizona as well. He dazzled with a right pad save on Johan Larsson, as the Sabres forward was creeping towards the far-post, received a beautiful pass from Kyle Okposo and looked to have a tap-in until Kuemper’s right leg flashed out and made the save. The Coyotes’ netminder was injured on the play but was able to finish.
Up next for Buffalo will be a three-day break, followed up by a Friday night tilt in the Nation’s Capital and a date with the Washington Capitals. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena.