Blues earn a point in Buffalo, but squander chance at two by losing another third-period lead
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the end, the Blues were just trying to hang on.
During a 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres on Thursday night, the Blues had already killed about 90 seconds of a critical 4 on 3 power play. They dodged some bullets as J.J. Peterka hit the post, and as Jack Quinn sailed a shot high and as Rasmus Dahlin shot wide of the net. But Dahlin's one-timer 1:33 into overtime guaranteed that one point was all the Blues would get out of Buffalo on Thursday.
The point was the first for the Blues since a Nov. 5 win over Tampa Bay, but it was still the team's fourth straight loss. It was the first four-game losing streak for St. Louis under Drew Bannister, and the last time the Blues lost four consecutive games, they fired Craig Berube.
"I was happy with the effort," Bannister said. "I was happy the way we played. Guys did a lot of good things out there. They were competing. They looked much more confident. We had opportunities, hit the post a couple times. But we've got to bear down on those opportunities, too, because there's not a lot of them a game right now. We've got to make sure (we capitalize) when we have those opportunities."
Brandon Saad scored two goals and Pavel Buchnevich added another for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 29 saves as St. Louis dropped to 7-9-1.
For the second straight game, the Blues couldn't hold on to a third-period lead. After blowing a two-goal lead against Boston on Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss, the Blues could not protect a 3-2 third-period lead in Buffalo.
Alex Tuch tied the game at 3 with 7:03 remaining in the third period to send the game to overtime, and Dahlin capitalized on Oskar Sundqvist's goaltender interference penalty late in regulation to lift the Sabres.
"I think any point right now is a good point," Saad said. "Obviously, we want to close out games and be able to hold to a lead. Like I said, it's nice to get anything when you're on a skid there. We'll take it."
The Blues carried a 3-2 lead into the third period thanks to Buchnevich's tying goal and Saad's go-ahead one. It was Buchnevich's first 5 on 5 goal since Oct. 11 in Vegas. For Saad, meanwhile, it was his second two-goal game of the season, having done it on Oct. 22 against Winnipeg.
How can the Blues be better at holding on to leads?
"Don't sit back, just try to play how we played the first two periods," Buchnevich said. "In the second period, we're on our toes all the time, making plays. Don't scared to make mistakes, just play as a unit of five. Don't back off. It's easy when somebody go, you follow him. It's five guys as a unit on the toes, it's easy to play like that. When you hesitate, you see what happened the last two games. We give up too many goals in the third period."
The Blues have been outscored 11-1 in the third period during their four-game losing streak.
On Thursday night, the Blues had more shot attempts (18-17) and shots on goal (8-6) than the Sabres.
"I thought we had good opportunities," Bannister said. "If we score on those opportunities, we widen it. I think that's how we hold the lead, we open the lead. I thought our guys defended well. They did a great job. Guys were playing on the right side, tried to keep things simple, didn't get ourselves in a ton of trouble."
Jordan Kyrou rang the post with about 4 1/2 minutes left that would have been the go-ahead goal for the Blues. He did not see the ice after that, replaced by Oskar Sundqvist in his spot with Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours, including two offensive-zone draws.
Kyrou also did not play late in a tied game against Boston following critical late-game turnovers that led to losses to Philadelphia and Utah.
"I'm putting players out there right now that- We want to make sure that we get at least a point," Bannister said. "It has nothing with Jordan. I thought Jordan played great. I thought the team played great. I wanted to make sure that we made sure we got the first point, and then hopefully get it to overtime. Obviously, Jordan's great in overtime. But overall, I thought all the guys played extremely well."
With Kyrou on the bench, Sundqvist was on the ice with about a minute left, and he crashed into Sabres goaltender Devon Levi to earn a goaltender interference minor penalty. Buffalo played keepaway as the third period washed away, ensuring that they would have all two minutes of a 4 on 3 power play in overtime.
"It's a penalty," Bannister said. "The refs are going to make those calls. Whether it's awareness or just making sure that you don't go into the blue paint at that time. Sunny's working, just like everybody else is out there. Mistakes happen. Just got to push through it."
Bannister took a Sabres goal off the board with a successful challenge for goaltender interference. Dylan Cozens appeared to score about five minutes into the third period on a rebound at the net-front, but officials ruled that Zach Benson interfered with Binnington.
Benson entered the crease on his own before he was pushed into Binnington.
"He immediately went to the blue paint without any pushing, so it's automatically (interference)," Bannister said. "He was standing in the blue paint. He obviously made contact, too, with Jordan. Once he goes in and if he stays there, regardless of if he makes contact, it's goalie interference."
It was the first challenge of the season for the Blues. If Bannister was wrong, the game would have been tied at 3 and the Blues would have been trying to kill a delay of game penalty.
"Just knowing the rules," Bannister said. "There didn't have to be goalie interference. The player went into the blue paint and stayed in the blue paint. Because he did make contact, it was a pretty easy call for us."
— Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph exited the game in the second period due to a lower-body injury and did not return. Bannister said Joseph would be re-evaluated on Friday.
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