Avalanche Defeat Sabres 3-1 in Afternoon Clash

The Buffalo Sabres hosted the Colorado Avalanche in a matinée on Columbus Day at KeyBank Center. The first two games of the season have been less than forgiving to the Sabres, who managed to score one goal in two losing efforts.

The Sabres never really threatened the Avalanche at any point, falling behind early in the second period and never looking back, ultimately losing to their Western Conference foe 3-1.

Game Recap

The Sabres came out with a little energy in the first period, causing a few sloppy penalties on the part of the Avalanche. Even still, the power play couldn’t take advantage, something that has plagued the Sabres for the last several seasons.

It took Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon all of three minutes to score, deflecting an errant pass behind his back, recovering, and sending a backhander past goaltender Alex Lyon to make it 1-0 Avalanche.

The Sabres persisted, however, en route to outshooting the Avalanche 13-10 in the period. Tage Thompson managed to find a little luck, sending a prayer of a shot from the point toward Scott Wedgewood, getting a lucky deflection, and ultimately knotted the score up 1-1 heading into intermission.

In the second period, the Avalanche woke up. Winger Valeri Nichushkin took an absolutely unforgivable turnover from Rasmus Dahlin in the Sabres zone, eventually setting up superstar defenseman Cale Makar for the finish and the 2-1 lead.

Around the 12-minute mark of the period, MacKinnon took another feed from Martin Necas, made Owen Power look silly, and buried his second behind Lyon to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.

Unfortunately, the Sabres were no better in the third period. If it weren’t for a successful challenge by Lindy Ruff, it would have been 4-1 Avalanche. Instead, the Sabres survived a late penalty and went out with a whisper, falling 3-1 in the end.

The Avalanche move on to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, while the Sabres will host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center.