Lindy Ruff accentuated the importance of the manner in which the Buffalo Sabres grinded out their 3-2 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Just about everything had fallen the Sabres’ way in their last two wins – goals were scored early, chances were capitalized on, and timely saves were made by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Their third straight victory required a commitment to the process in the face of adversity.

“Those are the types of games you’ve got to win,” Ruff said.

Luukkonen was clutch throughout a 24-save performance, then calmly turned away all three of the shots he faced during the shootout. JJ Peterka scored the lone goal of the shootout with a shot between the pads of Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar.

The Sabres led 2-0 after the first period on the strength of goals from Zach Benson and Tage Thompson. They had opportunities to extend their lead during the second period, including a power play that was spent entirely in the offensive zone, but sent multiple chances off posts.

It was in the moments after that unsuccessful power play that Matt Coronato found open space at the back side of the net to tap in a feed from MacKenzie Weegar and put Calgary on the board. The goal was scored under unusual circumstances, with Dennis Gilbert engaged in what Ruff described as a “wrestling match” with Flames forward Justin Kirkland at the red line.

Gilbert and Kirkland were both assigned roughing minors, but the goal counted following a discussion among officials.

“[The referee] said the puck went in in before he had his arm up,” Ruff said.

Calgary tied the game with 4:18 remaining in regulation when Jonathan Huberdeau corralled a rebound and passed to Mikael Backlund, who picked the far-side corner from the left circle. Once again, the goal a product of unfortunate circumstances – Peterka had been forced to skate to the top of the zone to retrieve his stick and, in doing so, left Backlund with time and space.

Two unusual goals against, combined with their own chances that fell just short, could have been enough to knock the Sabres off their game.

“I’ve used the phrase, ‘You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable,’” Ruff said. “The game got uncomfortable. And you have to trust how you’re playing.”

The Sabres were dealt another adverse hand in overtime following a call for too many men on the ice, which set the Flames up with a 4-on-3 power play for the final 1:20 of the extra period. Connor Clifton came up with a block, Jordan Greenway played the entirety of the penalty kill, and Luukkonen stopped a point-blank backhand attempt from Nazem Kadri.

The Buffalo penalty kill finished the game 3-for-3 and is now 10-for-10 over the past three contests.

“The 4-on-3 is something that rarely happens and it’s kind of hard to play against, but I think that’s mostly the guys have been playing great in front of me,” Luukkonen said. “Making blocks, playing hard and not giving them much. They made it easy for me to make the saves I needed to and I think it was a good penalty kill today.”

The Sabres have won three straight games for the second time this season. Their previous winning streak was followed by three consecutive losses, an experience they intend to learn from this time around.

The goal is to stick to their game plan, regardless of the circumstances – just as they did on Saturday.

“When we have losses, we respond pretty well,” Thompson said. “Now, we need to respond well when we have some wins. … We just continue to plug along in the same way and just kind of continue to grind teams down.”

Here’s more from the win over the Flames.

1. Luukkonen has stopped 86 of 90 shots faced during the Sabres’ three-game winning streak, a .955 save percentage. He punctuated the win Saturday by turning away shot attempts from Yegor Sharangovich, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Kirkland in the shootout.

Peterka – Luukkonen’s longtime teammate dating back to their days together in Rochester – noted how the goaltender’s calmness is advantageous in the shootout. Luukkonen said it’s part of a measured approach to be patient and use his size to his advantage.

“I think just out-wait the guy, make the most out of the 6-foot-5 frame I have and just try to keep calm,” Luukkonen said when asked about his shootout strategy. “… Kind of try to read what their approach to it is and not give away too much net and it worked out today.”

2. Bowen Byram skated a career-high 32:34, which is the highest ice time logged by any player in the NHL this season.

“He’s got a good engine,” Ruff said. “He can play a lot of minutes. He’s a great skater. He recovers fast. That’s the only way a guy can play that amount of minutes. Thought we had a couple D that struggled a little bit, so you give the other guys the extra minutes.”

3. Thompson’s goal came on a one-timer from the left dot on the Sabres’ first power play of the night. It was his 10th of the season, just one back from Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Florida’s Sam Reinhart for the NHL lead.

The Buffalo power play has now scored at least one goal in six of the last seven games.

4. Dahlin earned the primary assist on Thompson’s goal, moving him ahead of Alexei Zhitnik for third-most career assists among defensemen in Sabres history, with 235. Mike Ramsey is second on the list with 256.

Up next

The Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens on Monday afternoon as the team holds its annual Military Appreciation game. Tickets are available here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 12 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 12:30.