In Buffalo, the Sabres tripped up the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday with a 3-2 win after penalties.
Casey Mittlestadt was the lone striker in the skills competition to get the deciding goal for the Sabres.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves through extra time, and then added four more on skills.
“It’s been awesome,” Mittelstadt said of Luukkonen’s play. “I think we’re all extremely happy for him. We’ve seen how hard he works and how hard he fights, obviously in practice, and just in general the kind of person he is. I think I speak for everyone when we say we absolutely love playing in front of him.”
The Sabres moved to 27-27-4 off their third straight win/.
“They don’t give up much,” Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner said. “But I think with that patience you still have to have your foot on the gas. I think that we did a good job of that. Unless you continually come after them, they’re not going to give up anything or hurt themselves. They’re a good team, and in order for us to score, obviously we needed to sustain some [offensive] zone pressure, and I thought we did a good job of that, especially toward the end of the game.”
Tony DeAngelo staked the Canes to a 1-0 lead at 2:40 of the opening stanza.
Skinner potted a power play at 6:27 of the middle frame to knot the game, 1-1.
The Canes dropped to 34-18-6 off their second straight loss. .
“We were pretty awful to be quite honest,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I kind of knew it was going to happen. We were mentally not there. And that’s what happens. We have a tough schedule, and the three in four nights with the travel, and I could just feel it on the bench. We were just not sharp, and thankfully the one guy that’s been rested, Martin, was the difference tonight. He got us a point because we were not there tonight.”
Martin Necas restored the put Carolina lead, 2-1, with a strike at 14:42 of the third period, scoring off a shot from the left circle.
“I thought we responded very well when we gave up the penalty kill goal against,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I think we were frustrated at the call originally, and then frustrated even more that it went in the net. And we funneled it the right way. We elevated our compete instantly. And you got a goal within a minute later. … I thought we could have been much more aggressive to start. I thought, possibly we gave the group on the other side a little bit too much respect at times. But not after that frustration. And loved the compete from that point and the way we elevated.”
Owen Power retied the game, 2-2, forcing extra time, which solved nothing at 15:55 
Spencer Martin made 30 saves in the loss
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