The Buffalo Sabres will attempt to rebound from a brutal loss when they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.
After winning two straight games, the Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the visiting Seattle Kraken, but wound up losing 6-2.
Seattle flipped the score with five goals in a 13-minute span in the second and third periods.
“I thought the second period, (it was) embarrassing the way we played,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
“We had (offensive) zone time, didn’t get to the inside, didn’t get pucks to the net, passed the puck around the perimeter, looked for the pretty play, and eventually it caught up to us. And to give up a goal in the last couple minutes on the play, unacceptable.”
Sam Lafferty and Jack Quinn scored, JJ Peterka had two assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 23 saves for the Sabres. Rasmus Dahlin extended his assist streak to five games for the fifth time in his career.
Seattle’s second-period surge included a 14-9 advantage in shots on goal and 14-8 in scoring chances.
“We’ve seen it too many times this year where we give up one and it’s just a disaster,” Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens said. “And then they get another and then another. I don’t know why it keeps happening, but we’ve got to figure it out and find a way to not let that happen.”
Carolina comes in looking for its own bounce-back effort. After consecutive wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, the Hurricanes ended their homestand with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Seth Jarvis tied it 2-2 with 56 seconds remaining in the third period to help the Hurricanes salvage a point. Andrei Svechnikov also scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 17 saves. Martin Necas had two assists, his first multi-point performance since Dec. 5.
“I thought we got better as the game went on,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was a little sluggish start. I love how we fought and came back.
“We had our opportunities … There were a couple goals there (Kochetkov) would probably like to have back, but that’s hockey.”
Bad starts have been a problem for Carolina. After scoring first in 14 of their first 22 games played — best among all NHL teams — they have now scored first in just seven of 22 outings since Thanksgiving.
The Carolina power play had gone 0-for-17 in the previous six games before Svechnikov’s goal.
“Huge. It’s been a while for the power play,” Jarvis said. “It’s nice to get one, and hopefully that continues.”
Svechnikov has five points (three goals, two assists) in a five-game point streak.
Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal is rolling and was named the NHL’s “Second Star” for the week ending Jan. 12. Staal, 36, posted five goals, two assists in four games from Jan. 6-12 to lead all NHL players in goals for the week and tie for the most points.
Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere returned against Anaheim after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. The team recalled defenseman Ty Smith, 24, from AHL affiliate Chicago.
–Field Level Media