Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – After Thursday night’s loss to the Calgary Flames, defenseman Erik Johnson was very frank in his comments: If the Buffalo Sabres don’t commit to playing good defense, they will not win.
The proof is on the ice.
They’ve won two of five games, and in both wins, they were excellent on defense. They gave up very few chances, and converted good defense into speed and offensive chances.
The Tampa Bay Lightning looked very frustrated with the way the Sabres defended on Tuesday, and had very few Grade-A chances on Devon Levi.
Saturday was a game where the Sabres had to be patient and they were.
Not only was it Eric Comrie’s first game, but it was also Semyon Varlamov’s first action of the season, and both goaltenders were stellar. Varlamov stopped the first 27 pucks he faced, but Jeff Skinner finally broke through at the 16:36 mark of the second period.
Of course it was Casey Mittelstadt that got things started. In five games, Mittelstadt has a goal and three assists for four points, which would give him a 66-point pace on the season.
Mittelstadt broke down the slot and dished a perfect feed to a wide-open Skinner to make it 1-0.
Less than three minutes later, Mattias Samuelsson saw an opportunity to jump into the slot, and it was Mittelstadt who gave him a perfect pass to make it 2-0.
Varlamov made 40 saves in his first appearance of the year.
You had to feel bad for Comrie, who hadn’t been in a game in 24 days. He had a shutout until the 18:39 mark of the third period when Noah Dobson’s shot hit two Sabres on the way into the net.
Last March, Comrie had a 22-save shutout of the Islanders, and he stopped 24-of-25 shots on Saturday to make him 6-1-1 in his last eight starts.
Devon Levi missed the game with a minor lower-body injury. We don’t know if he’ll be ready by Monday, but even if he is, I think Comrie has earned the right to start that game.
Victor Olofsson had to play in place of Zach Benson, who also has a minor lower-body injury. I liked his response a lot.
Olofsson was active, he had six shots on goal, and was around the net all evening. I also liked his compete along the wall to help the forecheck.
Another big part of this game came at the 10:16 mark of the second period.
Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock took a cheap shot at Skinner, and Alex Tuch couldn’t get there fast enough to defend his linemate. He pounded Pulock, and sent a message to the Islanders that they weren’t going to put up with that.
Buffalo is now 2-3-0, and will wrap up its four-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.
