In Denver, the visiting Buffalo Sabres had a chance to improve their standing in the Eastern Conference wild card chase on Tuesday night.
The Sabres, having been in free fall for some time, righted the ship of late to put pressure on their rivals.
Gabriel Landeskog opened the scoring Tuesday in Avalanche win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Colorado Avalanche have their own issues in chasing down the top spot in the Central Division, and on Tuesday that took precedent as the Avs pinned a 3-2 loss on Buffalo.
Not that it wasn’t a tight game, the Avs needed J.T. Compher strike with 8:06 left in the third period for the game-winner.
“We’re just trying to play complete games with all the guys that are out of the lineup,” Compher said. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re sound defensively, tracking well, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”
Pavel Francouz made 31 saves to get the win for the mile high MASH unit
“We talked about getting pucks to the net and taking them anyway we can,” Compher said. “I was just trying to jam a few and get one over, and [Landeskog] was able to bury it.”
Curtis Lazar and Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres.
“We knew we were facing a pretty good team,” the Sabres’ Michael Frolik said. “They’ve got so much speed, but I think we controlled it to give us some chances. We were pretty good to take away their speed and space. This one is tough to swallow. We felt we were right there, [but] unfortunately it didn’t go our way. We battled hard and hopefully we can bring it to the next one.”
The Avs’ Martin Kaut scored his first NHL goal.
“It’s a dream,” Kaut said. “I am so happy for this moment. It was my dream to score my first NHL goal and I got it, so I am so happy. My mom was here, so that goal is for my mom. We celebrate tonight probably, just a little bit.”
Gabriel Landeskog struck for a power play goal in the first period for an early 1-0 lead.
“I liked the way our guys stuck with it because it felt like we were sluggish to start the game,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re playing a desperate team in Buffalo that’s playing real well lately, a dangerous hockey team on the offensive side of it. I felt like we were having some trouble checking them. We kind of got better as the game went on.”
[WATCH: All Sabres vs. Avalanche highlights]
Carter Hutton made 31 saves in the loss.
“I think we played a strong game,” newly minted Sabres forward Wayne Simmonds said. “We didn’t carry it for all 60 minutes, but I thought we played well for a large chunk of that game. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the equalizer.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.