“This is becoming more intriguing.” Rasmus Dahlin’s sister, a Buffalo defenseman and captain, expresses their strong opinions on Dahlin.
The Buffalo Sabres’ third period was crucial, sandwiched between a lackluster second period and a brief but successful overtime. In addition to tying the game against the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo displayed shrewd play and a level of tenacity that may be crucial for the Sabres in the future.
After giving up two goals to the Blues, the Sabres were behind 3-2 at the beginning of the first. Before Buffalo stepped up the ante and increased the pressure on St. Louis, things were looking dire. “The response in the third period was better than our second period. After the game, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters, “We started to control play again, we started to skate through the neutral zone.”
Dylan Cozens’ goal midway through the third period gave the Sabres and their supporters the illusion that they had tied the game, but a contentious interfering penalty nullified the goal. The goal that was nullified appeared to energize Buffalo, who were prepared to continue applying pressure.
Prior to attempting the shot, Cozens had a serious hit on Oskar Sundqvist of the Blues. The game appears to have changed as a result of Cozens’ work. For Buffalo, the pressure remained constant.
With twelve minutes remaining in the third quarter, Alex Tuch knotted the score with a perfect pass from Ryan McLeod. When McLeod noticed Jordan Binnington, the goalie for the Blues, turning his attention away from Tuch, he struck Tuch.
Buffalo was able to maintain the tempo for the rest of the quarter because to their aggressive approach. Devon Levi, the backup goaltender, made a number of crucial stops at that time that kept Buffalo behind or one goal behind. In the third, he made seven of his twenty-four saves that night.
Justin Faulk got in the path of Levi as the last minute of the session began, resulting in a postponed penalty at the beginning of overtime. The Sabres made the wise decision to play keep away for the rest of third period in order to initiate a two-minute power play to begin overtime. The youthful yet gifted roster needed that moment of composure.
On Monday against Montreal, the Sabres had just wasted a third-period lead. They were able to discover the most of their problems off the intensity, even though it appeared they were doomed to a repetition and squandered lead.
Buffalo won the game in the third period, even though Rasmus Dahlin may have had the winning goal in overtime. It may have also salvaged their season.
