Tage Thompson’s third-period goal broke a tie and Casey Mittelstadt had two goals as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 for a key result to keep alive their playoff hopes Saturday afternoon.
Rasmus Dahlin provided a goal and two assists as the Sabres (39-32-7, 85 points) try to stay in the mix for an Eastern Conference wild card.
Goalie Devin Levi, in his fourth NHL game, made 31 saves.
Seth Jarvis, Jesper Fast and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes (50-20-9. 109 points), who lost their second straight game and could be out of first place in the Metropolitan Division by the end of the night.
Thompson’s 46th goal came with 13:45 to play. He waited near the right circle and converted off Dylan Cozens’ pass from near the corner.
It was a rare loss in regulation for Carolina goalie Antti Raanta (18-3-3), who made 26 saves while his eight-game winning streak ended.
The New Jersey Devils, who play Saturday night at Boston, began the day one point behind the Hurricanes. Still, Carolina will have one game in hand on the Devils after Saturday.
The Hurricanes went 0-for-2 on power plays, including a two-minute chance with less than five minutes to play. Buffalo entered the day with the league’s worst penalty-killing in home games.
Mittelstadt began the scoring four minutes into the game. Later in the first period, Jarvis and Fast had goals in a 22-second span to push the Hurricanes into the lead.
Dahlin’s 15th goal of the season 4:04 into the second on a power play and evened the score. The Hurricanes were back ahead on Aho’s team-leading 35th goal seven minutes later.
Buffalo tied the game with Mittelstadt’s 12th goal with 1:42 to play in the second period.
Other than Carolina’s 12-6 edge in shots in the first period, it was largely an even game. Buffalo finished 1-for-4 on power plays.
The Hurricanes won earlier meetings by 5-3 and 5-1 against the Sabres this season.
–Field Level Media
