The Sabres started off the day with a matinee matchup at home, losing 4-3 to the Ducks in a game that we dominated. Very disappointing loss.

The Sabres got on the board first 9:07 into the game as Dylan Cozens picked off a pass in the neutral zone, passed it over to Jordan Greenway, who beat Gibson on a clean shot right in the middle to put Buffalo up 1-0. The Ducks answered right back though, as Adam Henrique tied the game up at 1 just 1:03 later, getting left alone right in the middle of the ice in a pretty bad defensive breakdown for the Sabres. Really solid first period for the Sabres, generating a ton of offensive chances and controlling the puck, as we outshot the Ducks 14-4, and besides that blip of the goal we gave up, we played solid defensively as well.

Buffalo took the lead back 8:10 into the second period, with Tage Thompson ripping a one timer from the circle on the power play to make it 2-1. Once again though, the Ducks tied it up with 8:01 left in the second on a Frank Vatrano after the Sabres couldn’t clear the zone. Pretty quick after that, Vatrano got his second in a row from Mason McTavish on a two on one with 5:26 left in the second to give the Ducks their first lead of the game. Less than a minute later though, with 4:40 left in the second period, Zach Benson got the tip in on a Henri Jokiharju shot from the point to tie up the game again at 3 on a delayed penalty. With 1:04 to go in the second, Troy Terry shot tipped through UPL after he made the initial save to give Anaheim a 4-3 lead. This wasn’t a great period for the Sabres, but it was a ton of fun to watch with these teams trading five goals.

After a scoreless third period, we came up short, losing 4-3.

FINAL: Sabres 3, Ducks 4

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Disappointing loss. We should’ve won this game way easier than the loss turned out. We outshot the Ducks 37-15, and outplayed Anaheim by an expected goal rate of 3.83-1.71, and yet just couldn’t get it done. The few chances that we gave up in the second period while we went back and forth with the Ducks turned out being what cost us this game, and really highlights why we’re a lousy hockey team.

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