Sabres Lose to Avs in Overtime

Well, just when you thought that the Buffalo Sabres might be starting a decent winning streak, they blow a 3rd period lead and go on to lose to the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime.

Things didn't start out well for the Sabres as the Colorado Avalanche took a 2-1 lead entering the 2nd period.

Daniel Winnik scored his 7th goal of the season to put the Avalanche up 1-0.

But less than a minute later, Thomas Vanek scored for the Sabres on a beautiful power play goal to tie the game up at 1-1.

Colorado wasn't going to settle for a tie game entering the 2nd period though. Ryan O' Reilly scored a shorthanded goal with a little less than four minutes remaining in the 1st period to give back the 1-goal lead to Colorado.

The game remained tied at 2-1 entering the 3rd period.

In the 3rd period, Buffalo scored back to back goals within a minute of each other to take a 3-2 lead with 15:00 minutes left in the game.

But the lead wasn't meant to last.

31 seconds after Steve Montador scored to give the Sabres the one goal lead, Matt Duchene tied the game up for the Avalanche.

The game then headed to overtime where David Jones won the game for Colorado on a power play goal.

Even with the loss, the Sabres still get a point since the game headed to overtime. Unfortunately for the Sabres, 1 point doesn't really do them much good since they are 9 points back of a playoff spot.

The Sabres are almost 1/2 through the season and have struggled badly up till this point. They need wins and must put together some winning streaks in order to pick up ground on the rest of the eastern conference.

Tonight, it appeared for a little bit as though the Sabres might get their 3rd win in a row but it wasn't meant to be.

The Sabres next play Thursday January 6th at San Jose.

Attendance: 12,548

Buffalo's Record: 16-18-5 (37 points) Tied 11th in the Eastern Conference

Last 10: 4-5-1

Interesting Note: Buffalo is 6-5 in games that end in OT/SO

Key Fact: Colorado had 17 takeaways

Three Stars:

1st- David Jones (Colorado)

2nd- Daniel Winnik (Colorado)

3rd- Peter Budaj (Colorado)