The week in review: Tales from Christmas week, 2013

The Sabres are preparing for a 5PM game with the Washington Capitals today. At 4PM the Buffalo Bills will be finishing off their 2013 campaign with a visit to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Patriots.

Just a quick note on the Bills/Pats, the Bills have not won in Foxborough in the last 13 years which includes the last 11 which were played at Gillette. For a quick synopsis of the agony of Buffalo at New England, the Buffalo News' Jerry Sullivan ranks the past 11 games.

As for the Buffalo Sabres, it's been an interesting week. And one might say that the team may have finally bottomed out and are on the upswing. How can you not think that while taking in the following two events.


Buttgoal

Heading into the Christmas hiatus, the Sabres faced off against the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.

And in a scene out of Rudolph where Sam the Snowman says, "And then it hit," four Sabres players were hit by the flu. Marcus Foligno, Alexander Sulzer, Ville Leino and the recently acquired Linus Omark were all scratches for Monday's tilt. In addition, center Cody Hodgson was still sidlined by injury.

The Buffalo Sabres Tyler Ennis does
his best Bobby Orr impersonation as
he ties the game at one vs. Phoenix.



Even with calling up Johan Larsson and Mark Pysyk, the Sabres dressed only 16 skaters. It was the first time they'd done that since January 7, 1981 (they beat the Quebec Nordiques 5-1.)

Interim Coach Ted Nolan rolled with three forward lines and seven defensemen. That was until winger Drew Stafford was ejected for an elbow.

Sabres tough-guy John Scott, who dressed as the seventh d-man, was switched back to forward and even had some time on the powerplay.

The Sabres fell behind in the opening seconds of the second period, before tying it up on a goal by Tyler Ennis at 14:01 of the third period.

And then came one of the weirdest finishes in NHL history, a score in overtime that's simply known as "Buttgoal."
Here's the video from NBCBreaking:



Props to Sabres on-ice commentator Rob Ray for being right one with the telestrator.

And big props to Pysyk whom Buffalo recalled earlier and who charged hard to the net to follow his own rebound.


Celestial Events:  John Scott scores a goal.

More frequent than Haley's Comet (once every 64 years) and less frequent than a solar eclipse (five happen per year around the globe, Sabres enforcer John Scott scored the second goal of his career on Saturday night at Toronto.

It was Scott's 200th game of his career, one which started in the 2008-09 season with Minnesota. "I've got a lot of healthy scratches," deadpanned Scott.

Sabres forward Matt Ellis took a Toronto turnover in the Buffalo zone up ice and flung a shot on the Leaves Jonathan Bernier. Bernier fumbled the puck, Ellis whiffed on the rebound and Scott pounced on the puck rocketing a shot high, glove-side into a gaping net.

The Sabres bench erupted in jubilation, “It’s obviously not every day I score, so they were pretty excited,” Scott said. “They were kind of hoping I’d get one the next few games."

It's been a long time since he's scored his first NHL goal against Carolina on November 15, 2009. "I was with the Wild, on defence, pinched in, got a rebound over (Cam) Ward," Scott recalled. "When you only score two, you remember them all."

How could the Sabres not be on the upswing with Buttgoal and Scott scoring.

It's a harmonic convergence.