Alex Tuch opened the scoring early for Buffalo, but the Ducks responded with a pair of goals on the power play. Five minutes later, Noah Ostlund raced into the zone and passed across to Josh Doan for the tying tally.
That open ice continued into the second period, but only Anaheim managed to capitalize, with Beckett Sennecke (early) and Terry (late) driving toward the net and beating Alex Lyon. The Sabres, meanwhile, hit two posts and just missed on some other great scoring chances, so they trailed 4-2 after 40 minutes.
“Obviously, we don’t want to be trading chances,” said Tage Thompson. “We’ve done a really good job limiting [the opponent’s] Grade-A’s, and tonight was a bit of a track meet.”
It’s not their preference, but the Sabres can hold their own in a track meet, as evidenced by their third-period push. Jack Quinn and Owen Power scored to tie it, and between their goals, Lyon denied Anaheim’s Chris Kreider and Jansen Harkins on breakaways to hold the deficit at 4-3.
“I told the team, ‘We’re going with all-out pressure, and I know we’re going to give them some opportunities,’” coach Lindy Ruff said. “I just said to [Lyon] in between periods, ‘You’re going to have to make some saves for us.’ And he did. He stood tall.”