Six games. Six one-goal wins. Two in overtime, two in the shootout.
Just who are these guys?
That's what Saberland is waking up to this morning after another thriller, this one in a 5-4 overtime win in Pittsburgh.
There should be nothing but respect for a Pittsburgh Penguins organization that has won three of the last 10 Stanley Cups and even though they're in a very unusual position at the bottom of the Eastern conference, and played last night's game against the Sabres without superstar Sidney Crosby, they still have firepower and have the heart of champions.
Such was on display last night through the first 25 minutes as Pittsburgh staked their claim to a 4-1 lead over Buffalo with equal parts desperation, ferocity, skating and skill. It was something the Sabres have seen often, especially when playing in Pittsburgh, however, what we haven't seen from Buffalo is the intestinal fortitude to come back from a blitzkrieg like that.
But we're seeing it now.
Three goals down? No problem. Defenseman Zach Bogosian makes it 4-2 mid-way through the second period and with less than two minutes to go in the frame and another defenseman, Casey Nelson, cuts the lead to one goal with his first of the season. Just past the midway point of the third period Casey Mittelstadt wired a wicked wrister top-shelf to tie the score at 4-4. This one's worth another look (via NHL.com):
Then, in overtime, it was time for Captain Jack (via NHL.com):
It was the fifth time during this six-game winning streak that the Sabres overcame a third period deficit to win the game.
For as much as Sabres head coach Phil Housley wants his team to come out of the gate faster, it hasn't happened. Actually, what he's gotten has been just the opposite as Buffalo goalies look like ducks in a shooting gallery through the first two periods. During this six-game stretch Buffalo's opponents have outshot them 85-57 in the first period with four of those teams registering 15 shots or more. Somehow Buffalo has managed to come out even over those six games as both they and their opponents have scored seven goals apiece.
There's a similar shot deficit in the second period (77-54) and their goal differential is worse as they've been outscored 8-4 over that span.
However what is happening, much to the delight of the team and it's fans, is that the Sabres are owning the third period. During this six-game win-streak Buffalo has outshot their opponents by a collective 71-46 margin in the final stanza and have outscored them 7-1. The Sabres haven't given up a third period goal in the last four games and to stretch it a bit further, Buffalo hasn't allowed a goal past the 7:10-mark of the second period in those four games.
Sabres goalie Carter Hutton faced a 40-shot onslaught last night with 31 of them coming in the first two periods. Like he's done throughout this streak, Hutton single-handedly kept Buffalo in the game last night despite giving up four goals. Over his four starts and a third period relief appearance at Montreal, Hutton has faced a total of 140 shots through 17 periods of play and has allowed nine goals for a rather remarkable .936 save-percentage.
Hutton, and to an extent backup Linus Ullmark, have kept the Sabres in games they had no business being in and they've also allowed Buffalo's skaters to make their mistakes while getting into the flow of the game. Both Hutton and Ullmark (who allowed two goals on 29 shots in a win at Minnesota) were rewarded with some remarkable clutch play and goal-scoring by the team in front of them.
It's something we haven't seen in Buffalo since Chris Drury and Daniel Briere co-captained the "Ferrari Sabres" back 2006-07 when they fearlessly pushed the puck up ice while goalie Ryan Miller held the fort stopping odd-man rushes on a nightly basis. That season just happens to be the last time the Sabres had a winning streak over six games. The eventual President's Trophy winning Sabres started out that season with 10-game winning streak which matched a franchise high and also tied an NHL record for most wins in a row to start the season.
Buffalo takes on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night at KeyBank Center but until then enjoy some of the sights and sounds from that 2006-07 season mikeak21 on YouTube:
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