AVS HOLD OFF SABRES FOR WIN AT BUFFALO
AVALANCHE 5, SABRES 4
BUFFALO, N.Y.» Considering the circumstances, an ugly win will do just fine for an Avalanche team looking to stay afloat in the playoff race.
The Avs gave up two short-handed goals and nearly blew a three-goal lead in the third period, but they escaped Buffalo with a 5-4 win over the lowly Sabres at the KeyBank Center on Sunday night.
Colin Wilson had a goal and an assist, while five different Colorado players scored in a sloppy game that lifted the Avalanche to 30-21-4, just two points behind Minnesota for the Western Conference’s final wildcard playoff slot.
But considering the Avs were playing in the second of back-to-back road games at the end of a stretch that saw nine of 10 games away from the Pepsi Center, and that leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon remained out of the lineup, they will take a win any way it comes.
“It feels good; we needed that one,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “At times, it was a little bit of a strange game. I thought our five-onfive game was pretty good, but there was a lot of special teams and we gave up basically two short-handed goals, scored a short-handed goal, gave up a five-on-three.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a big win for our team, there’s no question.”
The Avalanche was lucky its mistakes came against a team as poor as the Sabres, who averaged the fewest goals per game in the NHL even before losing top scorer Jack Eichel to a high-ankle sprain Saturday. They fell to 16-30-10 with the loss.
The sparse crowd could have anticipated a loose game given the circumstances, and that expectation was met almost immediately. The Sabres opened the game by letting not one but two Avs players behind them, as Wilson took a stretch pass from Nikita Zadorov and drew Robin Lehner toward him before feeding Alexander Kerfoot for a tap-in just 43 seconds into the game on the first shot of the night.
It was the 13th goal of the season for Kerfoot, who entered the day tied for ninth in rookie scoring.
“It’s just missed coverage,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “It’s a simple set forecheck, and there’s no communication and handoff of the player. Just awareness. That can’t happen, especially to start a game.”
The teams traded short-handed goals in the first period. No one picked up Benoit Pouliot after a short-handed rush from Ryan O’Reilly. Jonathan Bernier made the first save, but Pouliot banged home an easy rebound.
The Sabres returned the favor just over two minutes later, giving up a shorty of their own. Evander Kane sent a pass too hard around the wall and Rasmus Ristolainen couldn’t corral the puck at the point, deflecting it directly to a charging Matt Nieto, who beat Lehner high to the glove side.
Wilson made it 3-1 with his 100th career goal 67 seconds into the second period.
The Avalanche conceded another short-handed goal minutes later off a great individual effort from Buffalo’s Casey Nelson.
The turning point was an Avalanche third-period power play. Tyson Barrie’s point shot hit a body in front of the net and fell to the stick of Tyson Jost, who shot into an open net before Lehner knew what happened. The fifth goal just added to the Sabres’ embarrassment, as Lehner let an easy shot bounce out of his glove and right to Gabriel Bourque’s stick.