Sabres' Power owns 1st-period benching: 'I know that's on me'

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power understands why he was benched for the rest of the first period after Mika Zibanejad's game-opening tally in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

"I mean, it's pretty obvious," he said, according to The Buffalo News' Lance Lysowski. "I make two horrible plays on that goal, and there's nothing much that really needs to be said. I know that's on me, and those plays are unacceptable. I think it's just the accountability that we all asked for."

The Sabres won the faceoff with the Rangers on the man advantage and the puck went back to Power, who attempted to clear it from his own zone. However, Adam Fox kept it in at the blue line, and Artemi Panarin found Zibanejad with a perfect pass.

Wayne Gretzky criticized Power's failed clear during TNT's first intermission broadcast.

"Power has to get the puck out," the Great One said. "That's where you're losing, there's no excuse for that puck not getting out. On your strong side, 220 pounds, 6-foot-6, that puck has to get down the ice."

Power ended up with just 2:57 minutes of ice time in the opening frame, per The Buffalo News' Mike Harrington.

The 22-year-old rearguard wasn't the only player who rode the pine during the contest. Forward JJ Peterka saw just one shift in the second period.

"We turned the puck over too much," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We got to the blue line, turned it over, turned it over, turned it over. That is why some guys lost ice time."

He added, "Taking one or two shifts (away) up to this point hasn't worked. Sitting the odd guy out hasn't worked. The puck management, we've talked about that since the start of the year."

Ruff conceded he thought both players "really responded well" to their extended time watching from the bench.

"I know that's a culture change," he said.

The Rangers' second goal went in off Power, but he responded by getting the Sabres on the board with less than five minutes remaining in the contest.

Power and Peterka assisted on Tage Thompson's goal that drew Buffalo within one in the final minute, but it was too little, too late. The Sabres have now dropped eight games in a row, seven of which have been on home ice.

"We're not going to sit here and have a pity party," forward Alex Tuch said, per Harrington. "We're going to move on. We have to move on. We're not going to sit here and go into a shell and say, 'Oh, the season's over' because it's not. It's far from over."

The Sabres now sit in seventh place of the Atlantic Division with an 11-14-4 record. They'll take on the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on Saturday.