BUFFALO, NY. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — A solid defensive effort from the Buffalo Sabres came up short Saturday afternoon. As Thatcher Demko made 26 saves to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 1-0 win.
It was Demko’s fourth shutout this season and the seventh shutout of his career.
“That’s typical Demko, very solid,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Doesn’t get rattled. Looks big in the net. Just a hell of a game by him.”
Sam Lafferty scored the only goal of the game. The Canucks have won five games in a row, all on the road.
“It was kind of like a mucky type of game which is kind of good,” Tocchet said. “These are the games, I love when you have these types of games and see that resolve, and I thought we did a good job.”
The Canucks’ travel plans are being delayed. Rather than heading to Columbus, the team is staying in Buffalo with a major winter storm hitting the region.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves for Buffalo. It was the first time the Sabres were shutout since Dec. 16.
“We played a really good game,” Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. “Just got to put the puck in the net. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is.”
Lafferty scored 2:05 into the second period, burying a rebound at the top of the Sabres crease. It was his 10th goal of the season.
There were two lengthy reviews in the second period. The first came at the beginning of the period when Brock Boeser appeared to score for the Canucks on a hard wrist shot, but the goal was overturned after an offside review. The second came minutes later when J.T. Miller appeared to elbow Dahlin in the head, but Miller was only given a two-minute minor penalty for elbowing.
Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson left the game with an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. Samuelsson appeared to take a hit to the head from Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek.
Buffalo’s best opportunity to score came 4:14 into the third period when Dylan Cozens fired a hard slap shot off the crossbar on the power play. JJ Peterka also had an opportunity with a slap shot from the slot with 1:13 remaining.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday. The game time was changed to noon after the Buffalo Bills playoff game was moved from Sunday to Monday at 4:30 p.m.
