Game 17: Rallying points

Instead of getting mad, the Sabres got even and then got a win in overtime against the St. Louis Blues

BUFFALO — The Buffalo Sabres had plenty of opportunities to get mad, get frustrated and get on the wrong side of the ledger on Thursday night. Instead, they got payback in a karmic way.

The Sabres got a 4-3 win in overtime against the St. Louis Blues when Rasmus Dahlin scored a power play goal in the extra session to put them over the top. But that’s the end of the story. The beginning of it came when an apparent tying goal by Dylan Cozens was wiped out after a goaltender interference challenge by Blues coach Drew Bannister. Everything that followed it showed a Sabres team that found a way to re-focus their attention on what needed to be done and accomplished it.

“We’re not forcing stuff; we’re waiting for our opportunities,” Dahlin said. “You saw what we were doing there at the end. I think it comes from learning the game and being mature. So, we’re talking steps every day, so it’s good.”

We make references often here (maybe too often) about how games that play out the way they did now were different from how they would’ve played out in the past. This one is no different because nine times out 10 this one goes down as a loss that pisses everyone off. But when Ryan McLeod got Blues goalie Jordan Binnington moving the wrong way from behind the net to pass to Alex Tuch to score into a yawning net to tie it, things changed.

Instead of stringing together losses once again, the Sabres got back to winning after dropping an ugly game on Monday. Instead of saying they lost two in a row, we’re saying they’ve won four of the last five. It’s all a matter of perspective, but despite the flaws that popped up in the game, the result is what matters most in this case. The process can be adjusted afterward.

“You’ve got to be able to overcome tough moments,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Our second period wasn’t that good, but the answer in the third period was. We started to control play again. We started to skate through the neutral zone. A few guys didn’t have a very good night and we were able to overcome that at the same time, so big win for our club. We talked about not losing two games in a row.”

More from a win to build on ahead.