Where Buffalo roamed
Colorado makes visitors feel right at home in dismal end to stand
The NHL cellar-dwelling Buffalo Sabres entered the Pepsi Center having scored one goal over their previous four games, yet they seemingly scored at will Tuesday in a game they never trailed. The Sabres took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 — pulling ahead each time the Avalanche tied it — and went on to defeat the struggling Avalanche 4-2.
Colorado, which won seven of its first eight games in Denver, finished 1-4 in its five-game homestand. The Sabres, who were 1-9-2 in their previous 12 games, won their fourth game on the road and just seventh overall.
“Our play just wasn’t good enough,” said center Nathan MacKinnon, who scored two power-play goals for the Avs. “We know our identity. We were trying tonight. We just couldn’t execute.”
The Avalanche (12-12-2) begins a four-game road trip Thursday against the NHL’s best team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. It also plays the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the third game of a trip that includes games at Florida and Washington.
“It was unfortunate because we were good at home all year, and we had four games here where we couldn’t get the job done,” Avs rookie center Alex Kerfoot said. “We’re going on the road now. We have to find a way to turn it around. From now until Christmas is a big push.”
MacKinnon tied it 2-2 with his second goal of the game at 9:58 of the third period. But the Sabres regained the lead less than two minutes later during a 4-on-4 sequence. Evander Kane sneaked behind the net and slipped the puck in on a wrap-around before goalie Semyon Varlamov could get to his left post.
The Sabres added an empty-net goal from Jack Eichel, with former Avalanche standout Ryan O’Reilly getting an assist to complete a two-point night.
“This one was bad. They’re all bad, though,” Kerfoot said of the recent losses at home. “I would say this was our worst game in general, playing a team that’s been struggling so far this year. Not getting the job done, it’s really frustrating.”
The Sabres, with a shot from the point by defenseman Jake McCabe, took a 2-1 lead at 18:59 of the second period. The puck caromed past Varlamov off Avs defenseman Sam Girard.
At first, based on replay, the crowd didn’t think the goal would count, because before McCabe’s shot, the puck clearly exited Colorado’s zone with two Sabres inside it as forward Johan Larsson dumped it back in. It appeared to be offside. But after the Avs used a coach’s challenge and lost, the NHL said the play was onside be- cause Larsson and the two previously offside forwards each had their skates on the blue line and nobody was touching the puck inside the offensive zone. Therefore, it was touch-up offside — all Buffalo players were outside the zone before they chased after the dump in.
By losing the coach’s challenge, Colorado was assessed a delay-of-game minor.
“It’s probably the right call,” coach Jared Bednar said, “but at the time, for me, there was a feeling we should challenge that.”