Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – It’s been an unbelievable two nights for Buffalo Sabres goalie Michael Houser. The 28-year-old played his first two NHL games and did something that no other Sabres goalie could do in six tries this season: Beat the New York Islanders.
TUesday night's 4-3 shootout win was just another unbelievable performance, as Houser made 45 saves and then three more in the shootout to preserve the win.
In both games, the Sabres got behind by two goals to the best team in the NHL at protecting leads and still won both games.
Buffalo really had a slow start in this one, pretty much spending the whole first period in their own end. The Sabres got outshot 21-9, but got a fortunate bounce off the back wall to take a 1-0 lead. Jeff Skinner retrieved that puck and slid it over to a wide-open Cody Eakin for the goal.
Buffalo picked right back up with the poor play and just 26 seconds later, the game was tied. Josh Bailey had a 2-on-1 right in front of the net and there was nothing Houser could do, as Anthony Beauvillier tapped it home.
After Jacob Bryson blew a tire allowing Cal Clutterbuck to skate right past him and in for a breakaway shorthanded goal, the score was 3-1 and the Sabres were playing so poorly, things looked grim.
“We felt that as long as the game didn’t get out of hand, our legs would kick in and we’d get to our game," said Sabres interim head coach Don Granato following the game. "We’re a good skating team, we were just sloppy with pucks. But two factors, for me, is our guys felt like they had the taste of winning and they wanted to win, and you’re getting that feeling on the bench. Even when we were sloppy with the puck, there was no whining teammate-to-teammate. It was more like, 'let's get to our game.' The second part is we know our identity as a team. We knew how to defend even after our mistakes, but we also knew what we wanted to get to, and that was the challenge through the whole game.”
By implementing all that, Anders Bjork made an impact playing with Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson.
Before the second period ended, Bjork made the score 3-2 by tipping in a Colin Miller point shot. He then tied the game midway through the third when he kept a puck in the offensive zone and executed a give-and-go with Olofsson to tie the game, netting his fifth of the season.
There were far too many shots and chances to suit the Islanders, as the shots in the third were 18-11, New York. Houser was stellar, stopping all 18 shots. His best save came when Casey Cizikis blocked a Rasmus Dahlin shot, producing a breakaway that he stopped.
The overtime produced absolutely nothing, and then Houser slammed the door in the shootout, stopping Oliver Wahlstrom, Jordan Eberle and Beauvillier. Bjork was the only Sabres player to score.
Buffalo has been close to clinching last place in the NHL, but the two-straight wins have held that off. The Sabres are now just two points behind the Anaheim Ducks.
The Sabres will get Wednesday off and then play in Pittsburgh on Thursday against the Penguins.
