Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-23-2019
We're not sure if you can ask for a much better start to the Sabres season. After their 4-3 overtime win last night, the Buffalo is now 8-1-1 and though it's not the 10-game winning streak from last year, early indications are that this is not the same team as last year's either. This edition of the Sabres looks like they have many of the pieces in place to make this more sustainable, not 120-point sustainable, but at least playoff contender-worthy right now.
With last night's win over the San Jose Sharks, Buffalo is still undefeated at home, although three of the five wins came in the extra session and in two of them they blew two-goal leads. Against San Jose they actually came back from a 2-0 deficit and played their game to a 3-2 lead before surrendering the game-tying goal past the half-way point of the third period. They never wavered in this one and finished the Sharks off in overtime.
Some post-game quotes delivered to the gathered media last night:
Ralph Krueger on the powerplay (1/4) and special teams--"The powerplay goal shifted the game back our way, changed the momentum in every way. But the penalty kill came through big when it needed to so winning that specialty game against a team like San Jose whose amongst the best penalty killers in the league (now No. 2 in the NHL at 90.6%) and has a powerplay that's extremely potent, we're pretty proud about winning that game 1-0."
Sam Reinhart on sticking to their game after playing well but being down 2-0--"We have a lot of trust in the system. I felt that we were doing well in the first period. You kind of need to take a second in intermission and realize the talent they have over there."
Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on getting a point in the overtime loss--"It's a big point. It's a good team and this is going to be a tough place for teams to get points in."
Five-game recap:
Dallas Stars-0 Buffalo-4
Buffalo heads into this one still without an regulation loss (4-0-1) but face a goalie in Ben Bishop who's been a nightmare for them dating back to 2012 when he was with the Ottawa Senators. Since then Bishop had beaten the Sabres 12 consecutive times, the last two of which were shutouts. Buffalo ended their goal-less drought vs. Bishop at 156:03 when Victor Olofsson scored on the powerplay. That blast by Olofsson set an NHL record for powerplay goals to start his career as he scored two last season and five this season. After a relatively even first period the Sabres scored two goals in the second period, two more six minutes into the third and hung in there to get goalie Carter Hutton his first shutout as a Buffalo Sabre. With the win the Sabres finished a perfect three-game homestand (3-0-0) with a dominant performance as a send off for their first road trip of the season.
Buffalo-2 Anaheim Ducks-5
With everything going swimmingly, the Sabres the hit Anaheim with a lot of confidence and rode that to a 2-0 first period lead against the Ducks. However, the tables started to turn as Anaheim scored a goal that was disallowed but came right back and cut the lead to 2-1 late in the period. That Ducks goal, just two minutes after Olofsson extended his NHL record with his eighth powerplay goal to start his career, swung the momentum Anaheim's way and there was no getting out of it for Buffalo. Physicality was key to the Ducks taking control and they couldn't care less if they got a penalty. They were roughing the Sabres up pretty good and completely threw them off of their game. Buffalo's potent powerplay was stymied going 0/6 after that Olofsson goal while the Ducks scored their first powerplay goal of the season. Anaheim would go on to score five unanswered goals with Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger calling it an "off night" and saying his team complicated the game.
Sabres-3 LA Kings-0
After shutting out Dallas, it was assumed that Hutton would get the start in Anaheim while Linus Ullmark would play the second of a back-to-back against the Kings. Krueger shunned that conventional wisdom and stuck with his rotation. No one knows what would have happened if Hutton had played against the Ducks but we know what did happen in Los Angeles--he pitched a 47-save shutout. Hutton was good in that game, especially in the second period when the Kings pumped 15 consecutive shots his way (eight on goal, four misses and three Sabres blocks) in a 7:27 span after falling behind 3-0. The Sabres got out to a strong start with two goals in the first 5:20 and added a powerplay goal by Casey Mittelstadt early in the second period. From then on it was all Los Angeles as they tilted the ice and pumped 36 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes to Buffalo's 17. Mittelstadt had a little coming out party in this game scoring his first two goals of the season and getting the primary assist on Conor Sheary's goal while linemate Jimmy Vesey recorded an assist for his first point of the season.
Sabres-4 San Jose Sharks-3
In the first game of their long-distance home-and-home, the Sabres got goals from three lines including the game-winning goal by the unheralded trio of Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo. All three factored in on the game-winner as Girgensons scored his first of the season and it was a just reward for a line that has been working hard all season but hadn't hit the scoresheet that often. The Sabres also showed their scoring depth as they got a goal from the Mittelstadt line again as well as a pair from the Marcus Johansson/Jeff Skinner/Vladimir Sobotka line. Even-strength scoring was crucial as their once vaunted powerplay went 0/4 with the first powerplay unit going 0/13 since Olofsson's goal against Anaheim. Buffalo's top line of Jack Eichel/Sam Reinhart/Olofsson were shut down once again and hadn't scored an even-strength goal since Eichel's unassisted tally 7:35 into the first period against Anaheim. That the team came away with two wins despite those shortcomings looks to be a strong sign that things are much different than last season.
Sharks-3 Sabres-4 (OT)
Both teams travelled some 2,700 miles to Buffalo to finish off their home-and-home and the crowd watched as the Sabres overcame a two-goal deficit to remain undefeated at KeyBank Center. Eichel was the star by far with four points (2+2) including the game-winner in overtime but he was doing silly stuff early on, like passing instead of shooting just seconds into the game, and the crowd let him know about it. Skinner scored his sixth of the season, all at even strength, to tie for the team lead (Olofsson, Eichel) and the Sabres overcame a 2-0 first period deficit with three unanswered goals. Although San Jose forced overtime, the 3-on-3 session had the Sabres in control of the puck for all but about :15 seconds with Eichel showing determination on the game-winner as he dug it out from underneath Sharks goalie Martin Jones in the crease and pushed the puck over the line. A lot of good things happened in this game and a lot of good things have been happening so far this season as the Sabres are atop the NHL with an 8-1-1 record and a league-leading +14 goal-differential. Eichel has 14 points (6+8) tying him for fifth in the league
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