Okposo's intermission speech rallied Sabres in win over Pens: 'Just go'

Kyle Okposo scored the game-tying goal during the Sabres' come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night, but the captain's intermission speech was equally vital to Buffalo's comeback.

"(Okposo) said some things (before the third period) - I think everyone in here wanted to run through a brick wall after he spoke," winger Alex Tuch revealed after Buffalo's 3-2 victory. "He's the type of guy that, it doesn't matter what he says, everyone in here is going to listen."

The shots and scoring chances were nearly even through the game's first 40 minutes - 22-20 in favour of the Penguins and 20-19 in favour of the Sabres during the first and second period, respectively - but Buffalo had nothing to show for it and headed into the locker room for the second intermission down 2-0.

Okposo knew his team needed to be desperate during the final stanza, and his rallying cry set the table for what he viewed as the Sabres' "best period of the year."

"Just go," Okposo said of his message to his young team. "Quit worrying about making so many mistakes and worrying about giving up chances. We didn't have that for a long period of stretches last year. We just haven't quite been there this year."

He added, "We just wanted to play our game. I've talked about it before, we just haven't played our game. It's just pressure, pressure, pressure, go, go, go. A lot of times when we do that, we stop thinking, and a lot of goals end up on the highlight film."

Jeff Skinner kicked off the comeback with a power-play goal just five minutes into the third period, and Okposo followed suit with his first goal of the season soon after. Tuch netted the game-winner in the final minutes of regulation, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside all 11 shots he faced.

Sabres head coach Don Granato said he gave the floor to Okposo after their exciting win.

"I thought he did a great job between the second and third, and postgame we went right back to him for further comments because it was a great job," he said. "It was a leadership move but a collective effort. We have lots and lots of leaders in the room that took lots of initiative."

The Sabres are now in sixth place in the Atlantic Division in terms of points percentage with a 9-9-2 record. Okposo hopes Buffalo can use Friday's inspiring victory as a stepping stone to keep its dreams of ending a 12-year playoff drought alive.

"There's no time like the present. We're almost 20 games in, we're almost a quarter of the way through," he said. "We're .500 here and we haven't played our best hockey. I think that bodes well for us if we can just get back to using our legs because there's not a lot of teams in this league that can keep up with us if we're playing like that."

Next up for the Sabres is a clash against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.