ANAHEIM — The Ducks turned their winning streak into a mere points streak as they fell, 3-2 in overtime, to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night at Honda Center.
Drew Helleson and Isac Lundeström scored for the Ducks. John Gibson made 31 saves in his first loss of the season after he missed several weeks recovering from an appendectomy.
Peyton Krebs and Jason Zucker scored in regulation for Buffalo before Jiri Kulich decided the contest in overtime. Owen Power assisted on all three goals and Alex Tuch added two helpers. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 23 saves.
Overtime saw plenty of end-to-end action, but appeared to be headed for a shootout until a miscue in the Buffalo zone sent the Sabres away on an odd-man rush. Though Gibson initially made a sprawling save on Power’s hard shot, Tuch got the rebound to Kulich, who was beckoned by an open net to score the OT winner.
Although the Ducks’ strongest period was the third – they dominated the frame in terms of possession, shot volume and scoring-chance quality – it was to no avail on the scoreboard, and an additional stanza was required to settle the match’s outcome.
The second period had the spice of an atomic Buffalo wing with two skirmishes and three goals, including two in a 50-second span by the visitors that left the score knotted at 2-2 at the second intermission.
Ducks captain Radko Gudas drilled Zucker near the right-wing boards and then manhandled Connor Clifton in a fight to answer for his big hit. Jansen Harkins made a similarly explosive check on Dylan Cozens and nearly fought Zach Benson before the officials intervened.
Benson received an additional minor penalty and the Ducks extended their lead six seconds after their power play expired. Defenseman Olen Zellweger earned his fifth point in four games when he whipped the puck high to winger Ross Johnston, whose point shot was tipped up and over Luukkonen by Lundeström for his third goal of the season.
That edge proved fleeting, as the Sabres halved their deficit with 1:23 left in the frame and then erased it with 33 seconds remaining.
Power’s shot from the blue line got behind Gibson, and the puck eluded him as he tried to cover it with his glove. Tuch got to it before Krebs found it and nudged it over the goal line for his third goal of the season.
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Zucker’s fifth goal and second in two games drew Buffalo even after Power broke up a Sam Colangelo pass into the slot, sending Zucker off on a partial breakaway that he finished with aplomb as Helleson gave chase.
There was only intermittent crispness during a first period in which Buffalo held most analytical barometers but the Ducks had the nearest misses – Alex Killorn’s drive to the doorstep and a Cutter Cauthier pass for a backdoor tap-in for Brett Leason were both foiled by Luukkonen – and the period’s only goal.
The Ducks got on the board 4:02 into the game thanks to a pair of poised passes from their brightest playmakers. Leo Carlsson restored confidence and relieved congestion in the neutral zone with a decisive pass to the left flank, where Trevor Zegras had just hopped the bench and into open space. He gained the offensive zone and scanned ahead before slamming on the brakes to hit the trailing Helleson for his second career goal and first since April 11, 2023.
More to come on this story.