A fantastic second period and overtime weren’t enough for the Sabres as they once again quickly lost control Saturday evening against the Vancouver Canucks.
After a slow first half of the first period, Vancouver (15-11-4) struck first with a goal scored by Josh Leivo at 12:57, assisted by teammates Jordie Benn and Troy Stecher.
In the second period, Vancouver continued to lead Buffalo as Antoine Roussel scored at 3:07. Buffalo (13-11-6) bounced back and scored their first at 5:24, goal by Kyle Okposo assisted by Johan Larsson and Jeff Skinner. This was Okposo’s first game back after suffering a concussion 11 games back. A little over a minute later, Sam Reinhart tied it up for Buffalo with the assist from Rasmus Ristolainen and Victor Olofsson. A little back and forth happened, starting with a Canuck’s goal scored by Josh Leivo assisted by Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, at 17:11 and a Sabres ‘tic-tac-toe’ power-play goal at 19:16 scored by Victor Olofsson assisted by Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.
Tic-tac-toe, it's a GOAL! 🚨#Sabres50 | @vickeo pic.twitter.com/f2JHpel4MJ
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) December 7, 2019
Vancouver returned back on top early in the third with a short-handed goal from Tyler Myers, his first of the season. The Canucks would regain a two-point lead after a goal at 10:40, scored by Antoine Roussel assisted by Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher. Buffalo was able to gain a one-point deficit at 12:05 with a goal scored by Zemgus Girgensons assisted by Johan Larsson. With less than a minute remaining, the Sabres tied it at 5 each with a goal scored by Marcus Johansson assisted by Rasmus Ristolainen and Jack Eichel.
Heading into overtime, just as Eichel scored, a penalty was served to Henri Jokiharju for interference on Jake Virtanen. Vancouver’s J.T. Miller scored on the power play with just 1:39, ending the Sabres’ hope for a two-point gain.
Here's the Jokiharju penalty and Eichel disallowed goal pic.twitter.com/KRKrYaEglD
— Ben Mathewson (@Ben_Mathewson) December 8, 2019
Game = over. Water bottle = gone.
What a rocket from J.T. Miller. pic.twitter.com/q3TU3VepTw
— NHL (@NHL) December 8, 2019
Eichel dominated in the offensive zone, again, with another three-point night, giving him a twelve game point streak, the longest in NHL history. Carter Hutton made 24 saves. The Sabres head to Edmonton to take on the Oilers Sunday night.