Two late goals by Jack Eichel drove the 28th place Buffalo Sabres to victory over the NHL’s second place New York Rangers by a score of 4-3 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Thursday night. It was Eichel’s first home game since returning from a high ankle sprain that occurred the day before the season opener.
“It was great to be back here, to be able to win and being able to contribute, makes it sweeter.” –Jack Eichel
The fast-paced affair featured the top and bottom of the league in scoring. The Rangers led the league in scoring by 19 goals with a road differential of +15. The Sabres, on the other hand, came into the contest dead last in home victories and home scoring. Once the puck was dropped for the opening face-off, those stats quickly became irrelevant.
Jack Eichel was dominant. He scored two goals, drew two penalties and consistently made sharp, creative passes, controlling the play. His first of the game and second of the season, on the power play, from Kyle Okposo and Rasmus Ristolainen evened the score at 3 at the 12:45 mark of the third period. He scored the game winner on his very next shift, a deflected pass attempt, bringing the raucous crowd to their feet. It was the first time the building was buzzing for a whole game since the end of last season.
The first period was somewhat even with teams trading goals; the Sabres early, the Rangers late. Buffalo went up 1-0 at the 18 second mark on a fluke goal by Johan Larsson. Jake McCabe propelled a knuckle-ball from center ice which careened off Larsson’s skate at the blue line. The puck handcuffed Henrik Lundqvist, deflecting off of his chest and trickling down into the net. Captain Ryan McDonagh’s wrister from the blue line ricocheted in the slot over Anders Nilsson’s shoulder. McDonagh’s power play tally, his first in 34 games, came at 16:10 with Marcus Foligno in the penalty box for hooking.
The see-saw affair continued in the second. The Sabres played got the better of the play, just not the score. They had possession of the puck in the Ranger zone almost three-fold as much as the reverse. The speed of the Rangers helped keep the Sabres at bay.
“We played a pretty good second and weren’t rewarded. We stuck with it and got a big two points.” –Jack Eichel
With Cody Franson in the sin bin for cross-checking, Rick Nash netted his 11th, the Rangers’ second power play goal at 8:15. Nash whacked in a rebound after Nilsson had made the initial save on a shot from Derek Stepan.
The next 93 seconds saw the Sabres first significant pressure in the offensive zone. Seven different Sabre forwards touched the puck during the sequence that started with Jack Eichel’s line. The defensemen, noteably Jake McCabe, pinched and were involved in the play. Captain Brian Gionta caught the short side for his fifth on a set up from Marcus Foligno. The assist was Foligno’s 100th career point.
The ice then tilted back in the other direction with the Rangers mimicking the Sabres’ pressure. Slick passing and strong work along the boards by the Rangers had the Blue and Gold running around, chasing the puck in their own zone. Marc Staal caught the short side on nice play from Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead. It was the first goal that Nilsson would likely admit that he should have stopped, having come off of the post by the width of a bedroom slipper.
Brian Gionta who had a goal and an assist, going +2, commenting on Eichel: “He’s feared out there, he’s a threat every time he’s on the ice.”
The Sabres will try to continue their new winning ways on Saturday, hosting Boston at 1pm EST.