GAME RECAP: Sabres 3, Oilers 2

EDMONTON, AB – Sometimes, you just run into a hot netminder. 

Tuesday night for the Edmonton Oilers was a perfect example of that.

The Buffalo Sabres received stellar goaltending from local product Eric Comrie, who made 46 saves on 48 shots in a 4-2 defeat for the Oilers at Rogers Place in the third game of their six-game homestand to open the 2022-23 NHL season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it a one-goal game with the net empty and 1:33 remaining in the third period, but despite relentless pressure over the final frame, including a 23-5 shot advantage, the Blue & Orange couldn’t find the equalizer against an inspired and determined goaltender playing in front of family and friends in his hometown of Edmonton.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse found the back of the net in the opening five minutes of regulation to tie the game at 1-1 after Rasmus Dalhin opened the scoring with a power-play marker, but back-to-back goals from Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka in the second period provided the offence needed for the Sabres in front of a strong performance from their netminder.

Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, also an Edmonton product, made 20 saves on 23 shots opposite of Comrie in his first start of the season. Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Cody Ceci each produced single helpers in the defeat as Edmonton fell to 1-2-0 on the year heading into Thursday night’s clash with the red-hot 3-0-0 Carolina Hurricanes.

Video: BUF@EDM: Nugent-Hopkins scores in midst of scramble

FIRST BLOOD

Brett Kulak and Jeff Skinner took coincidental unsportsmanlike conduct calls before a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hooking penalty on 2021 first-overall pick Owen Power 13 seconds later sent the Sabres to an early 4-on-3 man advantage. 

With the three Oilers penalty-killers covering the middle, it provided Rasmus Dahlin, another first-overall pick from 2018, all the time and space he needed to walk the top of the circles and beat Skinner blocker side with a wrist shot to open the scoring four minutes from the opening puck drop.

Dahlin is off to a hot start this season for the Sabres, putting up three goals and an assist in his first four games this campaign after posting 13 goals and 53 points in 60 games during the 2021-22 season.

NEED A NURSE?

Wait 23 seconds and then the Doctor will see you.

Darnell Nurse was buzzing around the offensive zone in the first period, first missing wide on a breakaway that even he might’ve been surprised to find himself on before getting another crack at an open look soon after the Oilers fell behind to Buffalo.

The Oilers transitioned quickly after picking up the puck in their own zone, with Nurse passing off to Leon Draisaitl and flying through the neutral zone on his way towards the back post. Draisaitl sifted a sweet pass onto the tape of Nurse on a partial 2-on-1 through Power for the Doctor to one-touch under the sliding Comrie to level things up for Edmonton not even half a minute after Buffalo struck first. 

Nurse now already has two goals to his name through three games this season after notching a grand total of nine in 71 games played last campaign to go along with 26 assists.

Video: BUF@EDM: Draisaitl, Nurse connect for equalizer

LIVE BY THE BLADE

In a contest that was resting on a blade’s edge to begin the second period, the Sabres sliced deep.

Tage Thompson cut through the Oilers defence in the first minute of the middle frame to score a highlight-reel goal by toe-dragging through the slot and protecting the puck before cutting back across Skinner and sliding it into the open net for the 2-1 lead.

Soon after, matters were made worse when Dylan Holloway was caught with a big open-ice hit by Ilya Lyubushkin that drew the response from the Oilers, particularly the passer Warren Foegele, to defend their teammate. Holloway would not return to the game after absorbing the hard check.

Just past the five-minute mark, it was an errant pass from Draisaitl in the offensive zone that turned into a wide-open breakaway for JJ Peterka, who put it five-hole under Skinner to give the Sabres a two-goal lead before the Oilers had even registered a shot in the period.

After a formidable first-period performance from the Oilers that was very much the focus at practice following two slow starts in their opening two games, it was the middle frame that caused issues for Edmonton.

COMRIE, MAYBE?

It was a battle between the hometown kids, with 23-year-old Skinner manning the Oilers crease against 27-year-old Comrie for Buffalo. A fun fact for you — Tuesday’s contest at Rogers Place was the first time in NHL history that two goaltenders born in Edmonton started opposite one another in the same game in Oil Country.

But there was nothing fun about facing the son of former Oilers forward Mike Comrie on this occasion.

Comrie was locked in against his local club, getting beat by Nurse’s equalizer in the first period but holding down the fort the rest of the night with 46 saves on 48 shots. The Oilers peppered the blue paint but found their offence difficult to generate against the the Edmonton boy between the pipes for the Sabres. Comrie came up with his biggest save in the final 30 seconds of the game, stopping Zach Hyman twice from point-blank range to keep Buffalo’s lead at one after Nugent-Hopkins scored with 1:33 remaining with the Oilers net empty.

The former Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils netminder signed a two-year deal this offseason with Buffalo after starting a career-high 19 games last season and looks to increase that number in a tandem with veteran netminder Craig Anderson. Tuesday’s performance will certainly help his case.

PARTING WORDS

Check back for reaction to tonight’s game following post-game media avails.