Sabres lose tight one to Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres, coming off their week-long bye, traveled to Madison Square Garden on Thursday night to face the New York Rangers. However, they would not get the opportunity as they fell to the Rangers, 4-3.

Robin Lehner got the start in net after Linus Ullmark’s stellar debut last week. Lehner struggled early, but then adjusted as the game progressed with 30 saves on 34 shots faced. 

The game got off to a fast start for the Rangers, with Rick Nash scoring on a breakaway to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The power play has been one of the weak spots this season for Buffalo, but it was working tonight as Kyle Okposo scored with under a minute to go in the opening period to tie the game.

Almost halfway through the second, J.T. Miller, the hero for NY during the Winter Classic in OT, scored to put the Rangers up 2-1 just minutes after the Sabres killed off a penalty. Although the Sabres trailed twice during the game, the team continued to show fight, with Falk picking up his first of the year with under three minutes in the second period.

The Sabres have also fared well in the shots on goal department, with a 37-34 advantage over the Rangers and have also been physical, with a 30-22 lead in total hits throughout the game.

Tonight’s game was a rare bright spot for the power-play unit, going 2-for-4 with the man advantage in one of their best outings this season.

“All things considered, coming off a break, I think we played fairly well…we had very good net presence…it can cause havoc” – Justin Falk.

A rare solid outing by the Sabres, and the team’s scoring output was at a high point. However, Nash scored his second of the night early in the final period. Originally deflected off the boards, it left Lehner far enough out of the net for Nash to score his second of the game.

O’Reilly scored the team’s second power-play goal of the night, but Pavel Buchnevich got a goal with Lehner completely out of the net and sealed the deal for his team.

After earning a good all-around win against the Blue Jackets last week, the Sabres were unable to perform an encore at the Garden and suffered another tough loss tonight, dropping to 11-25-9 through the team’s first 45 games.

The xext game will be Saturday afternoon at KeyBank Center against the Dallas Stars, with a puck drop set for 1 p.m. as they will play their final home game before the All-Star break.