BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Sabres’ point streak ended in a scoreless effort against an opponent that had been giving up goals by the handful.
St. Louis’ struggling backup goaltender Joel Hofer looked more like an HOF’er making 28 saves on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center as the Sabres got shut out 3-0 by a Blues team playing on the second leg of a back-to-back and ranking last in the league in goals against.
‘Didn’t break through’
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made only 14 saves in another shaky performance from Buffalo’s top goaltender prior to a preseason injury, and the Sabres lost despite holding advantages in shots on goal (28-17), scoring chances (22-14) and power plays (3-2).
“We defended pretty well,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We just didn’t break through offensively.”
Buffalo (5-4-4) had secured a point in the standings in seven straight games, the team’s longest streak in three seasons, and averaged 3.6 goals in going 5-1-4 in the previous 10 games.
Missed chances
St. Louis (5-8-2) scored the winning goal on a Sabres power play in the first period when Mathieu Joseph stripped the puck from Jack Quinn and beat Luukkonen on a partial breakaway. Joseph also had assists on goals by fourth-liner Nick Bjugstad and an empy-netter from defenseman Justin Faulk.
Hofer made a spectacular save sliding over to glove Josh Dunne’s shot from inside the crease earlier on the penalty kill that led to Joseph’s goal.
“We missed some early opportunities that I think could have changed the game,” Ruff said. “Probably the best one was the Doan opportunity on the power play. We put that in, we’re not talking about a short-handed goal we give up.”
Lineup notes
Tyson Kozak returned to the Sabres lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury. The Sabres remained without forwards Jason Zucker (illness), Juri Kulich (illness), Zach Benson (lower body) and Josh Norris (upper body). Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson played after sitting out Wednesday’s practice.
The Blues scratched one of their top scoring forwards Jordan Kyrou to try and create a spark after losing eight of their past 10 games. Hofer came into the game with a 5.02 goals-against average, nearly the worst in the NHL.
Up next
The Sabres begin a three-game road trip Saturday night at Carolina.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.