Game 22: A game coaches just hate

The Sabres showed promise and the inexperience of youth against the three-time Stanley Cup finalists from Tampa Bay in a 6-5 overtime loss

BUFFALO-- Something Don Granato has spoken about in reference to his very young team is trying to stay away from the roller coaster of emotions both through games and through the course of the season. Unfortunately, Monday's matchup against the rival Tampa Bay Lightning was like an extended visit to Cedar Point.

The Sabres came back from a two-goal deficit in the first period and then yacked away a two-goal lead late in the third period to go on to lose in overtime 6-5 after a Steven Stamkos snipe shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

It was the worst of times, then it was the best of times, followed by the blurst of times. It's not at all what you want to see in the end despite encouraging signs in the middle.

Tampa Bay got ahead 2-0 in the first period from a power play goal by Brayden Point and a Corey Perry goal courtesy of a threaded needle of a pass from eventual game hero Stamkos. The Sabres were looking like they were going through it and down in the dumps until Tage Thompson reached into his bag of tricks 1:06 after Perry's goal.

Thompson continues to dazzle, and this goal got the Sabres back on their front foot skating after looking down in the dumps getting down 2-0. That spark got Jack Quinn to score another goal 59 seconds later to tie it. Like I said a post or two ago, it was only a matter of time before goals came regularly for Quinn and this nifty shot to beat life-long Sabres menace in goal Brian Elliott set the stage for a slobberknocker of a game.

As the game wore on, they traded goals. In the second period, Tyson Jost's first as a Sabres put them up 3-2 only to see Point score his second of the night to tie it again. Then in the third period, Buffalo got goals from Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner to go up 5-3 with 5:41 left in the period. Done deal, right? No... this is the Lightning we're talking about here. A team that's been in this situation together loads of times in situations much bigger than a Monday night game in late-November.

Stamkos' first goal of the night came 16 seconds after Skinner's to cut the lead to 5-4 and then things got a bit feisty.

Kucherov running into Luukkonen followed by Dahlin and Samuelsson taking turns walloping Kucherov while everyone dogpiled into the situation got everyone's blood up. Kucherov already had fans pissed off because he helped guide Mattias Samuelsson's stick into his face to draw a high-sticking call in the second period that led to Point's power play goal. This time he was able to get Dahlin off the ice with him for two minutes late in the game.

The Lightning have more than enough offensive players to cover for not having Kucherov. The Sabres do not have the same luxury for losing Dahlin.

"We can't give them power plays in the end," Dahlin said. "We've got to stay away from the box. They're such a great power play team."

Dahlin would take the opportunity to comment on what went on with Kucherov other than to compliment his shot and what he does on the ice. If he has words to say about him, he saves it for on the ice and not to us. Respect, although it's less juicy for us dorks writing about it.

During the ensuing 4-on-4, Jost was busted for hooking in front of the Sabres net and that resulting power play allowed Kucherov to fire away from the circle and former Sabres draft pick (of course) Brandon Hagel tipped it past Luukkonen to tie it 5-5 with 2:02 left in the third. A 5-3 lead melted away in the span of 3:39.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said this Monday morning about how his team combats young, up-and-coming teams that look to use their youth against his veteran team:

"Experience does matter and we have a lot of players that have been in the league now. They've had a taste of winning, they know what it takes, we've gone through the lumps, we've had our Game 7 Conference Final losses, we had our 2019 sweeps, and then we turned that in to cash those chips and won some years. So, I think experience helps. Maturity is another big one.

"You have to understand, this league now. Last year, the top-eight teams had clinched a playoff spot basically on Valentine's Day or something like that. You're not going to see that this year. There may be a couple runaway teams at the top, but I think playoff spots, even the seven spot, will be up for grabs come the last week of the season. And that just going to the parity of the league. There's no easy games, but I think with our pedigree, we know that."

I admire Cooper a lot for not just being an outstanding coach and for where he's come from to be one of the best in the league, but also because he just makes sense of everything and speaks plainly about it. There's not a lot of coach speak with him, but there is plenty of knowledge and, as it turns out, clairvoyance, because everything he spoke about in relating to that question was something Buffalo lacked on Monday night and Don Granato knew it right away following the game.

"This was a big learner for us," Granato said. "Because we backed off pressure. The psyche changed the last 10 minutes, and we gave up time and space that we didn’t for 50 minutes. And you do that, you allowed good players a little bit of extra time and a little bit of extra space, they are going to make plays. So, we tightened up. That is a very big learner."

I understand fans are probably already sick of hearing about the team "learning" but guess what, that's what most of this season is going to be about and there will be nights like this to get firsthand study of what it means to be a top team in the NHL. On this night, it meant not backing off once you believe you've locked a game down.

Granato's hockey means not going into prevent mode and parking the bus, so to speak. Getting back on their heels means letting Stamkos drive all the way to the net and clean up a rebound. Giving a team loaded with top players who have seen and done it all room to roam means letting your emotions get the best of you or scrambling to take a penalty, so another goal doesn't happen. Instead, it's a fait accompli that led to a goal happening anyway.

Patience isn't just required with this group, it's mandatory. Believing that this team that has an average age under 25 will all have the light go on simultaneously is unreasonable. Yes, they'll have games like the ones recently against Montréal and St. Louis where it'll feel like they've got it down pat. Then there are the harsh lessons learned like they've had twice now against Tampa Bay, albeit Monday's loss was a much tougher one to swallow than the game at Amalie Arena on Nov. 5.

As long as the lessons imprint on the players, things will get better as the season goes. And yes, I am aware these are familiar lines from previous iterations of the rebuild.