BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Sabres squandered an opportunity to win their sixth game in a row and get coach Lindy Ruff his 900th career victory by allowing goals 2:42 apart in the third period of Thursday night’s 3-2 loss on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist in staking a 2-0 lead for the Sabres in the first period. Buffalo’s captain now has 64 points in 69 games. JJ Peterka scored his 25th of the season. James Reimer made 27 saves, losing for the first time in eight starts.
Buffalo led 2-1 before Peterka turned the puck over and Zachary Aston-Reese scored the tying goal for Columbus four minutes into the third period. Boone Jenner scored the go-ahead goal on a power play after Sabres forward Sam Lafferty took the game’s first penalty for slashing. James Van Riemsdyk got the first Blue Jackets goal with nine seconds left in the second period.
This is the 24th time this season the Sabres have lost a game in which they led at any point, and seventh when they were ahead in the third period. They are tied for the third in the NHL in blown leads.
The Sabres were on a five-game winning streak for the first time in over two years, but had been eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week. With four games remaining, the Sabres (35-37-6) need to go 3-1 to finish with a .500 record.
Ruff is trying to become the fifth coach in NHL history to win 900 games. In his second stint with the Sabres, he became the second coach to win 600 games with the same franchise last month.
The Sabres continue their road trip with back-to-back games at Florida on Saturday and Tampa Bay on Sunday. The conclude the season at home with games against Toronto on Tuesday and Philadelphia on Thursday.