BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Two weeks ago, the Sabres returned from winning three in a row under the palm trees in California, striding into playoff position at third Atlantic Division.
Postseason aspirations now seem about as far away as the team’s last playoff appearance. The Sabres have gone winless in eight consecutive games after Wednesday night’s 3-2 defeat against the New York Rangers. And seven of those losses have come at KeyBank Center, marking the eighth home skid of eight games or more in team history.
Owen Power and Tage Thompson scored in the final minutes of the third period, but the Sabres were unable to rally back the way many of their opponents had on this horrid homestand. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 25 of 27 shots.
Mika Zibanejad scored on a power play at seven minutes into the first period, Reilly Smith got a goal with just under seven minutes left in the third, Adam Fox added an empty-netter, and Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves as the Rangers won for just the third time in 10 games and avenged Buffalo’s 6-1 win last month at Madison Square Garden.
After falling toward the bottom of the conference standings during a stretch of playing seven of eight at home for the only time this season, the Buffalo (11-14-4) now faces face back-to-back games on the road against two of the top clubs in the East, at Washington (19-6-2) on Friday, and Toronto (17-9-2) on Saturday. Then they visit the Montreal Canadiens (11-14-3), who with a home win on Thursday night can drop the Sabres into last place in the East.
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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.