Jets foiled by Sabres' Reimer in 5-3 loss at home

Buffalo Sabres' goaltender James Reimer (47) makes a save on a Winnipeg Jets shot during the third period of their NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Sunday March 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

WINNIPEG — Head coach Scott Arniel had no reason to criticize the scoring chances the Winnipeg Jets generated on Sunday.

Sometimes teams just run into a hot goalie.

That’s what happened to the Jets when James Reimer made 33 saves to help the Buffalo Sabres upset the Western Conference-leading club 5-3 in front of a sold-out crowd at Canada Life Centre.

“Haven’t had one of those in a while, where we dominate like that and come out on the wrong end of it,” Arniel said. “Their goaltender played really, really well.”

Backup netminder Eric Comrie stopped 12 of the 16 shots he faced for Winnipeg (48-19-4).

Ryan McLeod had a goal and three assists for the Sabres, (27-36-6), who sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and were coming off a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon.

J.J. Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin, Tyson Kozak and Alex Tuch also scored for Buffalo. Jacob Bernard-Docker had two assists.

Nino Niederreiter, Colin Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg, which began a four-game homestand. Logan Stanley had two assists.

“We definitely had our chances,” said Miller, who scored at 7:41 of the third period to squeeze Buffalo’s lead to 3-2.

“Their goalie played well. They did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone and their own end. But, just one of those nights, a little bit snake-bitten. They played well defensively, so we’ll look at it and move on.”

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 in a later game on Sunday.

“It was a big goal for this team throughout the year, so hopefully that happens,” Miller said.

The Sabres had some made-in-Manitoba moments.

Reimer, who hails from Morweena, Man., made a windmill glove save on Niederreiter with 2:57 remaining in the third and Buffalo holding a 4-3 lead.

“Well, we’re paid to entertain, so I thought it would look a little better if I was on my backside,” Reimer said with a laugh.

He added there was some contact on the play.

“I went down and then I was just kind of scrambling,” Reimer said. “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.”

Peterka gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead when his shot beat Comrie on the glove side at 9:15 for his 22nd goal of the season, extending his goal streak to three in three games.

The Jets outshot the visitors 10-3 in the first period.

Niederreiter’s tying power-play goal at 2:05 of the second period 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.

Winnipeg outshot Buffalo 13-6 in the second.

Kozak, a product of Souris, Man., scored his second career goal in his 16th career game with a backhand in the last second of a man advantage at 7:13 of the third, but Miller made it 3-2 just 28 seconds later.

“Roughly I’d say there’s probably around 150 people waiting for me,” Kozak said. “It’s cool to have them all come out. A couple minor hockey teams from back home came, so it’s pretty cool. I haven’t played in this building before so it was a lot of fun.”

After Reimer made a huge paddle save on Gabriel Vilardi, the Sabres went the other way for Tuch’s 27th goal of the season at 13:21.

“We had our fair share of chances, maybe hit a couple posts where we would have liked the puck to have gone in, and their goalie made some big saves,” said Jets forward Brandon Tanev.

Ehlers made it 4-3 with 3:28 remaining, but McLeod scored into an empty net with 47 seconds left.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2025.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press