McLeod has goal, 3 assists for Sabres in win against Jets

WINNIPEG -- Ryan McLeod had a goal and three assists for the Buffalo Sabres, who prevented the Winnipeg Jets from clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 win at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

Winnipeg would have been the first team from the Western Conference to clinch a playoff berth with a point. It also could have clinched with a St. Louis Blues loss to the Nashville Predators in any fashion Sunday, but the Blues won 4-1.

“Of course, but I mean, any way that it happens,” Jets defenseman Colin Miller said of making the playoffs. “Obviously it was a big goal for this team throughout the year, so hopefully that happens.”

James Reimer made 33 saves for the Sabres (28-35-6), who lost their previous two games, including 4-1 at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Jacob Bernard-Docker had two assists.

“We were working hard the whole game,” Reimer said. “We're on the back end of the back-to-back. They’ve been resting for two days, so you kind of figured it'd be one of those games where you just had to hold the fort down. And credit the guys that come out in the third; they made some plays and I thought played really good in the third. So, that ended up being the difference.”

Nino Niederreiter, Nikolaj Ehlers and Miller scored for the Jets (48-19-4), who had won four of five (4-1-0). Logan Stanley had two assists, and Eric Comrie made 12 saves.

“(We had) triple the amount of scoring chances,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Their goaltender was great. Played great."

JJ Peterka gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 9:15 of the first period, circling in from the right corner and scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the circle.

“You play back-to-back and you're playing in this building against a team that didn't play yesterday.” Ruff said. “We knew we'd have to manage the puck pretty well, and we really didn't pass that test early. But I thought that second half and third period we showed we could play with them, and we played well.”

Niederreiter tied it 1-1 on the power play at 2:05 of the second when his attempt from in close went in off the skate of Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn.

“That’s a team with some good players,” Jets forward Brandon Tanev said. “Their goaltender played great tonight. I think we can challenge his eyes a bit more, get into the crease a bit more, make some dirty pucks a little bit tougher for him to play against. But I think at the end of the day, we’re focusing on our game each night, shift by shift, practice by practice. We’ll get back to that tomorrow, but there’s some positives to take out of that game. I think we will get back to practice and be ready for the next one here soon.”

Rasmus Dahlin put Buffalo ahead 2-1 when Bernard-Docker circled back and set him up for a one-timer from the point at 18:46.

Tyson Kozak pushed it to 3-1 on the power play at 7:13 of the third when he stuffed in the rebound from Mattias Samuelsson’s point shot.

“[Samuelsson] just got it to the net and hit my shin pad (and) I think it might have bounced off the goalie and then right back to me, and then just kind of had a wide-open net,” Kozak said. “Kind of unreal. I couldn’t believe it actually happened. I was able to score in front of a bunch of friends and family, so it’s kind of a surreal moment for me.”

Kozak, who is from Souris, Manitoba, a three-hour drive west of Winnipeg, played an NHL game in his home province for the first time.

“(My grandfather’s) first game and just happened to score,” Kozak said. “It’s pretty cool. He’s seen me play in Rochester here and there, but for him to see me play in the NHL, it’s special and it means a lot.”

Miller responded 28 seconds later to cut it to 3-2. He took a pass at the blue line and skated around Sabres forward Tage Thompson before tucking a wrist shot under the crossbar from the bottom of the right circle at 7:41.

“It’s one of those things where we almost had so many chances, but the puck just wouldn’t find the back of the net sometimes,” Tanev said. “It’s sticking with it, staying positive and committing to playing the right way and the puck will get there.”

Alex Tuch scored short-handed on a breakaway to make it 4-2 at 13:21.

”You look at the desperation on the short-handed goal, yeah, those guys are all tired,” Ruff said. “But just the desperation; we had a blocked shot, diving to get it out of the zone — that’s the type of desperation that puts a smile on your face.”

Ehlers brought Winnipeg back within one goal, skating up the left side and beating Reimer with a slap shot from the top of the left circle to make it 4-3 at 16:32.

"Power play, short-handed, face-off, and then a line rush -- so we made some mistakes in some of those situations,” Arniel said. “You watch those games, they happen, when you get all those chances we had, all of a sudden it goes the other way and it’s in the net. Haven't had one of those in a while, where we dominate like that and not come out on the wrong end of it. Their goaltender played really, really well."

Reimer made a windmill glove save from his backside on Niederreiter’s shot from the left circle to keep the Sabres in front at 17:03, then McLeod scored an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final at 19:13.

“Well, we're paid to entertain, so I thought it would look a little better if I was on my backside,” Reimer joked. “No, I mean, there's I think a little contact or something. I went down and then I was just kind of scrambling. They had a couple of opportunities to shoot the puck, so I didn't feel like I could get up. And so I just kind of swung around, so at least I was covering most of the net, and then I was able just to see the puck and catch it.”

“[Reimer] gave us a heck of a game,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "You need that. We’ve been four (games) in six (days), back-to-back (against a) fresh team, hard building; we knew that there was [going to] be nothing easy about trying to win the game. Got short-handed when we lost [Jordan] Greenway early and I thought that first 40 minutes, [Reimer] was a guy that put a lot of confidence in our guys to keep at it and try to get a win. And some of the saves were the reason we ended up with the victory.”

NOTES: Greenway, a forward, left the game after he blocked a Miller shot with his foot early in the first period. “I have no idea, probably our docs will look at him tomorrow,” Ruff said of Greenway’s status. “I'm hoping not bad.” … Peterka extended his goal streak to three games. He has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 12 games. … McLeod recorded his first career four-point game and became the fifth Sabres player to achieve the feat this season (Dahlin twice, Thompson, Peterka and Jason Zucker). … Winnipeg failed to record a point for the first time in its past nine home games dating to Jan. 24 (7-1-1) . … Niederreiter scored for the first time in 16 games. … Bernard-Docker had the primary assist on each of Buffalo’s first two goals. It is the first multiassist game of his career, and his first points with the Sabres since he was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on March 7.