Sabres overcome 2-goal deficit and disallowed OT goal in 3-2 shootout win over Oilers
By John Wawrow, The Associated Press on March 9, 2024.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Alex Tuch scored the decisive shootout goal and the Buffalo Sabres overcame a two-goal deficit and a disallowed overtime goal in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Jacob Bryson scored the tying goal with 8:21 remaining and Tage Thompson scored 15 1/2 minutes into the first period as Buffalo snapped an 0-2-1 skid. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 30 shots through overtime, and two more in the shootout, and sealed the win by getting his stick and blocker out to stop Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers third and final shootout attempt. Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele had a goal and assist each for Edmonton, which lost its second straight following a five-game winning streak. Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots through overtime and one of three shootout attempts. Oilers captain Connor McDavid had his points and league-best assist streak end at 13 games despite enjoying several set-up and scoring opportunities, including a shot off the post in the final minute of the first period. The point streak, in which McDavid combined for two goals and 27 assists, was tied for the sixth longest in the NHL this season. His assist streak was a career best and the league’s longest since Erik Karlsson enjoyed a 14-game run last season with San Jose. The Sabres got a chance to celebrate the win twice, the first time when Owen Power scored with two seconds remaining in overtime. Both teams had already left the ice when officials announced a replay review showed the Sabres being offside when defenseman Bowen Byram entered the Edmonton zone about 18 seconds earlier. The announcement led to a chaotic scene in which the Sabres mascot, Sabretooth, ran off the ice and down Buffalo’s tunnel to alert the team. Fans who had already begun exiting returned en masse and began booing. Tuch secured the win after Thompson and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl exchanged shootout goals. Driving in from the left wing, Tuch beat Skinner by snapping a shot inside the far post. Buffalo rallied after falling behind 2-0 on Foegele’s short-handed goal with 5:41 left in the first period. The Sabres capitalized on the same power-play with Thompson tapping in a bouncing puck 44 seconds later. Bryson tied the game by collecting a loose puck inside the Oilers blue line. Driving into the right circle, he lifted a backhander that went in off Skinner. The game finished with three officials after Ryan Gibbons went to the bench and had to be escorted down the Sabres hallway just before the start of the third period. There was no immediate update on what happened and Gibbons’ status. UP NEXT Oilers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. Sabres: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl 17-16
