Ryan McLeod recorded a goal and three assists and James Reimer made 33 saves as the Buffalo Sabres upset the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Sunday.
The Jets needed one point to clinch an NHL playoff spot. They could still achieve that if the St. Louis Blues lose to the Nashville Predators later Sunday.
J.J. Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin, Tyson Kozak and Alex Tuch also scored for the Sabres (27-36-6). Jacob Bernard-Docker had two assists.
Buffalo, the bottom team in the Eastern Conference, was coming off a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon.
Nino Niederreiter, Colin Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets (48-19-4), who began a four-game homestand. Logan Stanley had two assists.
Backup goalie Eric Comrie made 12 saves in his 18th start of the season (8-9-1) for Winnipeg.
Peterka gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead when his shot beat Comrie on the glove side at 9:15 of the first for his 22nd goal of the season.
Niederreiter’s tying power-play goal at 2:05 of the second took some lucky bounces. The puck went off Reimer’s pad right into the skate of Buffalo defenceman Beck Malenstyn and then into the net.
Dahlin’s one-timer flew by Comrie with 1:14 remaining in the period to make it 2-1.
Buffalo was outshot 10-3 in the first and 13-6 in the second.
Kozak scored his second career goal in his 16th career game with a backhand on the last second of a man advantage at 7:13 of the third. But Miller made it 3-2 just 28 seconds later.
After Reimer made a huge paddle save on Gabriel Vilardi during a Winnipeg power play, the Sabres went the other way for Tuch’s 27th goal of the season at 13:21.
Ehlers scored his 23rd with a slapshot to make it 4-3 with 3:28 remaining but McLeod scored into an empty net with 47 seconds left.
Takeaways
Jets: Winnipeg’s home point streak ended at eight games (7-1-1). It was only the team’s third loss in regulation at Canada Life Centre in the past 23 games (16-3-4). Winnipeg is now 7-1-0 this season when hosting a team that played the previous day.
Sabres: Peterka extended his goal streak to three in three games. He has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his last nine games. Winger Jordan Greenway left the game after blocking a shot early in the first.
Key moment
McLeod pounced on a loose puck while Buffalo was killing a penalty and sent it to Tuch, who wired the shot past Comrie for a 4-2 lead with 6:39 remaining in the third.
Key stat
Reimer was the difference in the game with his 33 saves.
Up next
Jets: Host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Sabres: Home on Tuesday to the Ottawa Senators.
