So far so good in 2020 as they went won two of three in the first three games and replicated it the next three.
The Sabres have three games heading into a long, nine-day break between games which features their "bye week" butting up against the All-Star Break. This week seems like as good a place as any to line things up for the remainder of the season so instead of doing a five-game recap we're going to shorten it to three games which fits into the Kruger model. And we're also going to reset those three games beginning with the Vegas game as it will be the first of three heading into the long break.
Krueger's plan is rather ambitious when you consider he'll be without two, top-six forwards, until after the break, on a team already lacking top-six firepower. Heading into the Vegas game Jeff Skinner had missed seven games while Victor Olofsson meaning the Sabres are without their Nos. 2 and 4 goal-scorers who had totalled 27 goals. He also has a goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton that ranked 21st in the league prior to the Golden Knights game with a combined 3.14 goals-against average and .899 save percentage.
Such is the task before this group of Sabres.
Vegas Golden Knights-2 Sabres-4
Vegas came into the game on a three-game losing streak which probably didn't sit well with the 2017 expansion team that had made the playoffs in their only two years of existence. It looked as if the Golden Knights were intent upon playing a physical game against Buffalo and they laid the body on the Sabres at every turn.
Buffalo took it to Vegas in the first period but, alas, were held off of the scoresheet due to a couple of missed opportunities. Former Knights defenseman Colin Miller had a glorious chance for a tap-in in the first period but tipped it just wide. Miller had been a healthy scratch for 14 games this season, more than any defenseman on the team, and had sat out the previous two games before hitting the ice against his former team. He played a tremendous first period for Buffalo before the wheels fell off. Miller took a penalty early in the second period but the Sabres went unscathed then he was whistled for a minor again in the third period and compounded the issue by yelling unpleasantries at the ref and getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tacked on. Vegas tied the game 2-2 just seconds into the first powerplay before Buffalo dug in and held them off during the second two minutes.
The Sabres went into the second period in a scoreless tie and how they came out of it with the lead is simply inexplicable. Vegas missed numerous wide open nets as Buffalo was turning the puck over and playing shoddy defense in front of a goalie that was flopping around like a beer league netminder in his first NHL start. Yet, after 40 minutes the Sabres were up 2-1 thanks to a powerplay that went 2/2.
Jack Eichel was responsible for two egregious turnovers in the second period and just didn't look like himself until the 7:57 mark of the third period with the score tied. Eichel looked like a 757 jet as he flew up ice and was joined by Zemgus Girgensons for a 2-on-1 break. He hit the Vegas line and went wide around the defenseman before making a sharp cut towards the net. Eichel used Girgensons as a decoy and with Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury cheating a bit, the Sabres captain made it look routine as he deftly lifted the puck into an open short-side.
That was yet another highlight-reel goal from Eichel who tied his career high with his 28th of the season.
Buffalo-4 Dallas Stars-1
The Sabres hadn't won in Dallas in 11 years (January 15, 2009) and were facing a Stars team that was 7-1-0 in their last eight games riding the hottest powerplay in the league (47.1% in 2020.) So what does Buffalo do? Take a penalty, of course, only 1:04 into the game. Captain Jack Eichel was the culprit but the PK came through as they didn't allow a Dallas shot on goal. The Stars would have four powerplays on the night (6:56 total) and Buffalo snuffed out every one of them.
This was a tough matchup for Buffalo as they were playing a big, powerful, experienced Dallas team that also had plenty of speed to go along with their size. The Sabres were also on the road where they were sporting a rather mundane 7-13-4 record and they were still playing without two top-six forwards in Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson.
But they came out on top.
Buffalo played a tight game most of the night and withstood the epitome of Stars-hockey--which includes no breathing room for the opposition in any zone, a quick transition game and relentless forecheck--during the second period. The Sabres gave up one goal in the second period (on a planned carom off the backboard that completely fooled Linus Ullmark) despite being outshot 16-5. However, they scored one of their own on only their 11th shot on goal through 36 minutes of play--Rasmus Dahlin's rocket of a wrister through traffic with Curtis Lazar providing a perfect screen.
Jimmy Vesey opened the scoring in the first period on a nice play. He created havoc along the boards and went to the net as Jack Eichel sent a cross-ice pass to Sam Reinhart who found Vesey with a cross-crease, no-look backhand pass for the easy tap-in. Michael Frolik notched his first as a Sabre late in the third period with a short-handed empty-netter and Zemgus Girgensons scored with :10 seconds to play also into an empty net. It was Girgensons' ninth of the year and third goal in four games.
With the win the Sabres extended their winning streak to three games (tying their season long) and have won five of their last seven.
Buffalo-1 Nashville Predators-2
One Nashville goal deflected in off of the skate of Zach Bogosian and the other goal came as a shot hit post and trickled in after deflecting off of the back Linus Ullmark's leg for the game-winner. Meanwhile at the other end of the ice, Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 30 of 31 Sabres shots for the 2-1 Predators win.
Props to Ullmark who made some remarkable saves even if one was in desperation as he dove in front of a shot after a poor play with the puck behind the net. The Sabres played a good road game but just couldn't quite pull this one out in large part because of Rinne and the iron behind him. One thing Rinne couldn't stop, however, was a shot by Sam Reinhart to his right as he collected a sharp, cross-ice pass from Rasmus Dahlin through four Preds players before sending it home. That pass, on a wire and right on Reinhart's stick, was simply remarkable and further evidence of what's in store for Sabreland from this 19 yr. old defenseman.
A couple of streaks ended last night. The Sabres three-game winning streak ended as they failed to stretch it to four games for the fourth time this season and Jack Eichel's point streak ended at nine games. Buffalo started out 2020 13th in the conference and eight points out of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with five teams between them and a playoff birth. After posting a 5-3-0 record so far this calendar year they're seven points out with three teams to jump.
Buffalo will have nine days between games as the NHL schedule-makers combined their "bye week" with the All-Star break. When they return they'll begin a five-game homestand with a January 28 matchup against the Ottawa Senators and will play eight of their first nine post-break games at home. The Sabres are 14-6-3 at Key Bank Center so far this season with 80 goals for and 65 goal-against.
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