The Buffalo Sabers added a difficult season in their 5-2 defeat at Utah Hockey Club Thursday at the Delta Center.
The Sabers, which are the last of the Eastern Conference, fell 3-2 with just over a minute in match time.
Sabers’ head coach Lindy Ruff fired goalkeeper James Reimer from the net in exchange for an additional skater, giving the sabers an advantage of six to try to link the match.
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Buffalo Sabers defender Rasmus Dahlin (26) is trying to save a shot by Utah Hockey Club on an open net during the third period at the Delta Center on March 20, 2025. (Rob Gray-Imagn images)
However, the Sabers Tage Thompson striker tried to send a pass to the defender Rasmsus Dahlin. The pass went wrong while Thompson missed Dahlin and the washer dismissed the boards and went to the back of the Sabers net, without goalkeeper to stop it.
The own goal has dropped the sabers 4-2. The sabers then abandoned another empty goal to the Utah striker Mikhail Sergachev, to put the final score at 5-2.
The sabers were down 2-1 in the third period, but Ryan McLeod took advantage of a turnover from Utah and buried a goal in disagreement with a clever setback to link it to 2-2 at the start of the third period.
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The center of Buffalo Sabers Ryan McLeod (71) celebrates a goal with the right wing Alex Tuch (89) during the third period at the Delta Center on March 20, 2025. (Rob Gray-Imagn images)
However, Utah striker Dylan Guenther scored his 25th goal of the year at the head of the team when he buried a rebound with 5:47 to play to play the draw and give UTAH an advance that they would not give up.
While the sabers play more for the draft position at this stage than for the position of the playoffs, the Utah Hockey Club is on the sidelines of the Wild Card race in the West Conference with 73 points.
The Utah hockey club celebrates an open goal against the Buffalo sabers during the third period at the Delta Center on March 20, 2025. (Rob Gray-Imagn images)
They are four points behind the Blues of St. Louis (77 points) for second place, but are also in the running for this last place with the Vancouver Canucks (76 points) and the flames of Calgary (75 points).
Utah will seek to rely on their victory over the sabers when they face Detroit’s Red Wings on Monday at 9 p.m. he. The sabers will try to bounce back after the defeat when they play Minnesota Wild at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
