(WGR 550) – Buffalo Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie went back to his hometown Tuesday night, and what an evening he had.
Comrie absolutely stole two points for his new team, making 46 saves in a 4-2 win in Edmonton over the Oilers.
In his two games with Buffalo, Comrie has stopped 79 out of 85 shots, which is a healthy .929 save percentage.
Buffalo didn’t look good in the first period, as Connor McDavid and his line spent the opening 20 minutes in Buffalo’s end. That kept Tage Thompson and his linemates defending for the whole period, as Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft made sure McDavid was usually out against Thompson.
When Woodcroft didn't insist on that matchup in the second period, that line went to work.
Thompson broke out and hit Jeff Skinner for a speedy transition in the neutral zone. Skinner quickly got the puck back to Thompson, and he undressed the Oilers defense and goalie Stuart Skinner for his first goal of the season.
As poorly as the Sabres played in the first, they did get a short-lived 1-0 lead when Rasmus Dahlin became the first defenseman in franchise history to score a goal in the team’s first three games of the season. It was a nice shot during a 4-on-3 power play.
Just 23 seconds later, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse raced up to join the rush and beat two Sabres to the net to tie the game.
Comrie had to make 14 saves in the first period, while Skinner only stopped six pucks.
To the Sabres' credit, they turned it around in the second period by moving their legs and getting to their speed game to create in Edmonton’s zone.
Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin had to leave the game in the second period after blocking a shot, but he laid out two Oilers with thundering checks, which lifted his teammates.
After the second check, Buffalo turned quickly again into transition, and Vinnie Hinostroza gathered speed and hit JJ Peterka who was flying. He was behind the Oilers defense and scored his second goal in three games to make it 3-1, Buffalo.
I want to stress that the third period wasn’t from a lack of effort, but Edmonton got 23 shots on Comrie and they weren’t cheapies from distance. Many of the shots were point-blank on Comrie, and even from the crease. Numerous times Comrie was down, but used his leg strength to keep his pads on the ice and keep the puck out.
McDavid had four shots in the game, playing 26:52 of ice time. It seemed like he was on the ice for most of the third period, and finally did get an assist when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-2, Sabres, with 1:33 left.
At that point, both Henri Jokiharju and Rasmus Asplund missed the net with Skinner pulled. But with five seconds left, Alex Tuch didn’t miss the yawning cage and the Sabres started their road trip with the 4-2 win.
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In two of the three games this season, Buffalo didn’t have it’s “A” game, but found a way to win. The Sabres have given up 121 shots in those three games, which averages out to 40.3 shots per-game.
That simply can't keep happening.
I think it was smart of head coach Don Granato to start the road trip off by putting Hinostroza in for his first game of the season. The Sabres needed the veteran presence on the ice, which Jack Quinn just wasn’t giving them.
Quinn will get his chance to get back into the lineup soon.
I thought the Sabres were better on the power play, because overall, their entries were much better. They were able to get set up in the zone.
After watching Comrie for four games since training camp opened, I see a very calm goaltender. He’s not all over the crease or way out of position. He stays true to the position, and I haven’t seen him rattled at all.
The Sabres play game No. 2 of the trip on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames.
