Pominville pots OT winner

It’s tough to imagine the Buffalo Sabres offense doing much without both Evander Kane and Jack Eichel. However, the Sabres managed to defeat one of the better teams in the league (again). 

Jason Pominville blasted home the game-winner in overtime to give the Sabres a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night. 

“It’s nice to get the win. Everyone pushed in the same direction the last couple games and you saw the results we got.” – Pominville

It was Buffalo’s third win in the last four games. 

“I really liked the way we started, our puck movement was some of the best we’ve had this year…It was a really solid effort from everybody.” – Phil Housley

The Sabres trailed for most of the game, but Evan Rodrigues finally got Buffalo on the board in the third period with his 6th goal of the year.

“I think my confidence continues to grow, my linemates have been great as of late…hopefully keep it going here.” – Rodrigues

Andrei Vasilevskiy was sharp for Tampa Bay with 32 saves, showing exactly why he’s been arguably the league’s best goaltender this season. He made several huge stops and got some help from the goal posts on a couple of occasions.  

At the other end, Chad Johnson was just as good, if not better. Johnson allowed just one goal on 22 shots and earned his fourth win in his last five starts. He’s also allowed just nine goals over that span.

“He’s been impressive. He’s dialed in. His preparation, his attitude are all there.” – Pominville

The only player to get one past Johnson was Cory Conacher, who played his college hockey at Canisuis. He opened the scoring after knocking home his own rebound.

The score was 2-1, but it very easily could have been higher on both sides. Vasilevskiy and Johnson did a great job of keeping their team in the game, but Buffalo came out on top.

It wasn’t the most exciting game all-around, but the Sabres played a great game. They were able to hang with the Lightning and shut them down for the most part. Buffalo also was able to stay out of the penalty box with just the one penalty. 

The Sabres will remain down south and prepare to take on the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.