Some three hours prior to the Sabres hitting the ice in Anaheim, the Buffalo sports scene was in yet another dire place as the airwaves and social media were wrought with anguish over their football team. The Bills, a centerpiece of "One Buffalo," got crushed in a way that usually scars the collective Western New York sports psyche for days and with the Sabres playing that night the prospect of them being a saving grace in the nightcap ended up as fool's gold way more often than not.
For the three or so hours between games one got the impression there was sense heightened security at the Peace Bridge with fans just ready to call it quits on their football team and also at One Bills Drive with the staff on the lookout for torches and pitchforks. A 37-5 thrashing at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts will do that to a fan base, especially with their beloved 2-5 Bills having to face the hated New England Patriots at home on national television next week.
As the angst of the evening subsided and fans settled into watch the game between the Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center, that sinking feeling came on again as Buffalo fell into a 2-0 hole just over half-way through the game. There were some familiar themes running through the first 33 minutes as the Sabres found themselves in a hole despite playing some real good hockey. However, once again it didn't seem as if they couldn't get a puck past a hot goalie.
The goalie in net for the Ducks was also familiar. Ryan Miller had spent his first 10 1/2 seasons playing for the team that drafted him before settling into a journeyman's role that now finds him in southern California. As we've seen in the past, when Miller is on his game he's very difficult to beat and after the Ducks went up 2-0 it prompted one media member to tweet that we'd seen this movie many times before--Miller will pitch a shutout until the closing minutes or seconds before allowing one goal in a win. When you add in that the Sabres were playing their final game of a five-game Pacific Division road trip against the 5-2-1 Ducks and that they've had trouble beating a hot goalie for years, perhaps stretching to over a decade, that sinking feeling was starting to set in despite the Sabres playing some real strong hockey.
However, instead of wilting like they'd done so many times before, the Sabres kept their feet moving and eventually broke through on the powerplay just two-and-a-half minutes after the Ducks took a 2-0 lead. They then proceeded to tied the score just a minute-and-a-half later. Buffalo popped in another powerplay goal early in the third and finished Anaheim off with an empty-netter for the 4-2 win. Both powerplay goals came from the second unit as two players, Kyle Okposo and Rasmus Ristolainen, both scored their first of the season with Ristolainen becoming the sixth Buffalo defenseman to score a goal this season. Jeff Skinner scored the game-tying goal with his fourth in two games and Patrick Berglund, who'd been a healthy scratch two games prior score is first of the year into an empty net.
There was a lot going on in last night's victory and that includes the goaltending. Anaheim's second goal came after the Sabres had spent a good chunk of time in the Ducks zone. A couple of Buffalo players got caught up ice and Anaheim turned it back the other way. Casey Mittelstadt did all he could to force the play to the outside but a fluttering wrister from the face off dot got by Sabres goalie Carter Hutton. Other than that, Hutton was stellar as were his skaters, especially in the final seconds as they thwarted a strong Anaheim push with Miller pulled. Just prior to Berglund's goal, forward Johan Larsson, who'd been a healthy scratch prior to this weekend, swept away a puck that was on it's way into the net.
Captain Jack Eichel, who's continual on-ice f-bombs have punctuated his frustrations, really seems to be finding his legs as both a leader and a producer. Although he only had a secondary assist last night, it was a beauty as he slung a sharp, no-look backhand pass that sent linemates Jason Pominville and Skinner up-ice on a 2-on-1.
It was Eichel's fourth point in two games. Skinner has been on a tear this road trip scoring his first goal as a Sabre in Arizona and coming away from this five-game road trip with five goals and a plus-8 rating. Pominville had been on the fourth line but with some line-juggling ended up with Eichel and Skinner. The 35 yr. old finished the weekend with a goal and three assists.
A tip of the cap to head coach Phil Housley who gave his lines and powerplay units a huge shake up prior to the weekend. That Eichel/Skinner/Pominville line totaled 13 points (5+8) and a whopping +14 plus-minus rating in the two games they've been together while single-handedly leading the Sabres to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Pominville opened the scoring in LA, Skinner got the hat trick and Eichel had three assists. All at even strength.
Although Housley's top powerplay unit failed to score over the weekend, they looked real good and did everything but during their two games together so far. The second unit also looked great and potted two last night. The first one was a double tic-tac-toe that started at the point and shifted down low with Sam Reinhart feeding a wide open Okposo on the weak side. Perfect execution.
The second one was a bomb from the point by Ristolainen with Reinhart screening Miller.
Buffalo won in two different ways over the weekend as they bombed LA 5-1 forcing the reeling Kings into a closed door meeting afterwards. Yes, you read that right, the Sabres forced a closed door meeting for the opposition. Although this Kings team is no where near their former Stanley Cup selves of a few years back, they're still big and will lay a body on you. The Sabres faced a fast Anaheim team that is hard on the forecheck and challenge you to beat their goalies. Although their forecheck was overwhelming at times, Buffalo had support all over the ice and if there were breakdowns, Hutton came through when he could (save for that one goal.) Buffalo swept through southern California with two wins for the first time since 2003.
There were many things to be thrilled with over the weekend when it came to the Sabres--the PK unit came up big last night and the back-to-back wins have the Sabres above .500 again. Individuals like defensemen Zach Bogosian and McCabe handled the physical aspect of things, a fourth line of Larsson, Berglund and Zemgus Girgensons were impressive on the forecheck and backup goalie Linus Ullmark's strong play were all strong contributors to a very good weekend for the Buffalo Sabres.
But perhaps the biggest thing wasn't even felt on the ice. The Sabres win last night (and their southern California sweep) eased the pain of the Bills debacle against Indianapolis bringing some desperately needed sanity to the Buffalo sports scene. As one local radio personality tweeted last night after the win, "Thank you sabres. I'm in a better mood as I go to sleep...Was afraid to close my eyes for fear of seeing Bills Colts plays in my dreams."
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