Sabres roll into Thanksgiving savoring a seven-game win-streak

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-22-2018


What a way to come off of a three-game road trip. By the time Johan Larsson scored Buffalo's fourth goal with only seven seconds left in the first period, KeyBank Center was rockin' and there was a collective "Wow!" rolling through Sabreland. Unlike the previous three games where they staged comebacks after being down one, two and three goals, respectively, Buffalo found themselves ahead 4-0 in this game with the hometown crowd going crazy and the team in front of them clinging to dear life.

The Philadelphia Flyers, however, weren't about to roll over. They had staged a voracious four-goal comeback with less than 10 minutes to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday so folding wasn't in the cards for them. Although they eventually lost to Tampa in overtime, they had proven that they had capacity mount a comeback of that magnitude and after Buffalo scored their fourth goal, the Flyers decided to take matters into their own hand.

At the puck-drop, Philly's Scott Laughton engaged Larsson for a center-ice tussle where some good punches were thrown but no real damaged done. Oddly enough it was the Flyers first fighting major of the season. That fight and a goalie change after the first intermission were enough to get Philadelphia back on their toes and they turned the tide in the second period scoring two goals while outshooting Buffalo by a 9-5 margin.

However, as they'd done the previous four games, the Sabres would not allow a third period goal and an empty-netter sealed the 5-2 win for them.

For the Sabres faithful, you can't ask for a better feel-good story heading into Thanksgiving. It's been seven long years with some fits and starts to a rebuild that at it's core was already laced with plenty of suffering. Last year was salt in the wound as the Sabres finished in last place for the third time in five seasons. But the low finishes provided top-end draft talent which is now on display and really gelling. Buffalo's present seven-game win-streak, their longest since October, 2006, has move them into a tie for second in the Eastern conference and fourth overall in the entire league.

Five different players scored last night, 11 players total hit the scoresheet and with Larsson and Evan Rodrigues both scoring, every Sabres roster player now has a goal this season save for Rem Elie who's only appeared in four games thus far. Jeff Skinner, who opened the scoring, is tied for second in the league in goals (15) while captain Jack Eichel is tied for fourth in the league in assists with 20.

It's really more than just the stats with this club, it's how they're playing. This roll right now is perpetuated by confidence in themselves on both an individual and on a team basis. To a man they recognize the individual talents around them, are embracing they're roles and are trusting in each other to get the job done. When their on their toes, they're a quick and very fast team that can get to those areas of open ice and when they're not, their goaltenders have come up with big save at the right time.

At their core this Sabres team is also still very young and still learning how to win. In five of the six games during the streak they've had to overcome third period deficits but against Tampa they jumped to a 2-0 lead, gave up a second period goal and clung to that lead as the Lightning sent a barrage of quality shots Buffalo's way in an attempt to tie the score. They barely got out of that one as a couple of late goal posts sealed it, but they won. Although not as quite as fast as Tampa, the Flyers represented a very quick team with a lot of talent that can put their nose to the grindstone and wear a team down with a hard forecheck. Philly battled their way back into the game but the Sabres held them off as well.

There's only one day of rest, today, before the Sabres finish off a particularly tough stretch with an Atlantic division back-to-back vs. Montreal tomorrow night and at Detroit on Saturday. Buffalo hasn't played a divisional game since Tampa and they'll face a Canadiens team that's only four points behind them in the division followed by a Red Wings team that's on a 9-2-0 run right now. At the end of this stretch the Sabres will have played nine games in 17 days and will be finishing it off with three games in four nights.

Until then, a Happy Thanksgiving to all and a sincere wish that everyone can share in the warmth a holiday like this can bring.