(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres put together a very nice effort in Winnipeg on Tuesday night, beating the Jets, 4-2. It was Buffalo’s first win since beating the Montreal Canadiens back on Nov. 26.
What I really liked about this win is as the second period rolled on, the Jets came at the Sabres in waves. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was, again, spectacular, making huge saves when his team needed him. It’s something this team has rarely seen since Craig Anderson got hurt.
Despite Winnipeg pressuring, it was Buffalo getting the go-ahead goal late in the second.
Rasmus Dahlin was a willing shooter in this game, and his shot from the point went in off of Jets defenseman Nate Schmidt with 39 seconds left in the period. It was Dahlin's second goal of the game, and it's the first time in his NHL career that he's scored twice in a game.
Scoring that goal and killing off an early third period penalty really seemed to put the Sabres into a good, winning frame of mind. The shots were 9-8 in the third period, and it was obvious the Sabres were really frustrating the Jets. It got to the point where the fans got frustrated and started booing the home team.
Tage Thompson’s line got back on the scoresheet after a mini slump.
Jeff Skinner seems to always like to pass on 2-on-1 situations, but he got one in the third and scored his first goal in six games by shooting the puck. Thompson and Victor Olofsson both had two assists in this game.
Another part that I liked about the Skinner goal is it was a defensive zone faceoff that Buffalo got and immediately transitioned up the ice into a 2-on-1 rush.
Luukkonen had played so well in his three games last week and came out of them with three losses. It was good to see a game where they were all there for each other. Many mistakes were negated thanks to support coming from other areas.
Dahlin has seemed to really improve his game since he was reunited with Henri Jokiharju. Just like last season, both had been playing poorly, but when they got together, both played very well. Jokiharju played 24:54 on Tuesday, while Dahlin put in 23:10 of work.
With two points in this game, Pierre-Luc Dubois has five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 10 games against the Sabres. Dubois did score early, but it was Luukkonen robbing him not once, but twice off a 3-on-1 rush in the second period.
Another thing I enjoyed watching was the work Cody Eakin and Vinnie Hinostroza put in before Anders Bjork scored. Bjork has been much better after head coach Don Granato benched him for a few games. It was Bjork’s first goal in 13 games.
Dahlin scored for the first time in 11 games.
The win Tuesday broke a seven-game losing streak for the Sabres, but it also gave Buffalo three of its last four points.
Things don’t get any easier for Buffalo, as they face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Yes, they’ve lost their last two games to the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings, but before that, Minnesota won eight-straight games. The Wild have scored four or more goals in eight of their last nine games. That’s 4.22 goals per-game, while only giving up 2.33 goals-against.
