This game was eerily reminiscent of some contests from early on in this season. The Sabres seemingly outplayed their opponent only to go home with the L.
Aside from the first eight or so minutes of the 2nd period, Buffalo was clearly the class of this game. Unfortunately for them, a game isn’t 52 minutes long. You need to play a full 60 minutes to win and tonight they did not do that.
Even so, there were so many positives to take from this game. First and foremost, the scoring line kept scoring. With injuries to Tyler Ennis and Ryan O’Reilly, and the deadline departure of Jamie McGinn, Buffalo has been stripped of a lot of their offense. They decided to go with the ultra offensive line of Sam Reinhart-Jack Eichel-Evander Kane. On a big charge up ice, Eichel fed Reinhart right in front of the net for the easy tap in. The rookies have been playing well lately, and it’s great to see that continue.
Another huge positive was the play of Johan Larsson. I have no idea what Dan Bylsma is doing differently than Ted Nolan, but whatever it is, it’s working for Larsson. The kid is really, really good. He added another tally tonight, only his 6th of the year, but he’s been playing better and with more consistency. He also is using the body and being physical in front of the net, creating a presence Buffalo desperately needs.
The bottom six forwards played a solid game overall tonight. That includes Matt Moulson, who seems to be getting more quality looks as of late. Marcus Foligno is in the same boat as well, carrying possession of the puck and making smart passes.
One play from Zemgus Girgensons also stood out. At the end of the 2nd period, there was a scramble in front of Chad Johnson. Instead of trying to find the puck, Girgensons found the Ranger who was prodding Johnson and flat out planted him. It was a beautiful thing to see. When there is a scramble, Buffalo has to do a better job of playing the man, not the puck. It’s the goalie’s job to find the puck, and when Zemgus did that tonight, CJ had no problem gloving the puck.
Although they only had two opportunities and didn’t score, the Sabres power play looked exceptional tonight. A lot of that starts with winning offensive zone face-offs, something they have struggled with since Ryan O’Reilly went down. But all together, it was a really competent unit that had some good cycles and just couldn’t find the net. That will change if they keep it together the next few games.
While overall the Sabres did an excellent job of getting pucks on net, especially during the 3rd period when they held a 19-4 advantage, I thought they were a little passive at the end. Once Johnson was pulled from net, Buffalo did a great job maintaining possession in the offensive zone. They were just afraid to pull the trigger, most notably Ristolainen from the point. Maybe it was a case of wanting to find the perfect shot, but at that time and situation, they just needed pucks on net.
The obvious sour point of the night was the play of Robin Lehner. After being spectacular in his few previous outings, he just didn’t have it tonight. The first goal was the result a defensive mishap between Mark Pysyk and Kane. Kane was on Derrick Brassard when Pysyk looked at him, and then Kane took off after Pysyk went to play the puck, leaving Brassard alone on the power play.
The other two weren’t pretty for Lehner. He let in a poor shot from Mats Zuccarello. There was no way that Lehner should let in such a bad angled shot from in close, but somehow Zuc got it through him. Right after that, Jesper Fast was gifted a sitting puck from the point. Lehner was screened in front and couldn’t see the shot, and Fast buried it with nice accuracy. That ended Lehner’s night and Johnson played extremely well as his replacement.
Overall, it was an impressive performance when you look at individual aspects instead of the final score. The loss isn’t going to derail the season or keep them from the playoffs, so they can brush it off and start again. Their next crack comes Thursday night when they go north of the border to take on the reeling Canadiens, who have lost 4 of 5.