Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning were playing for first place in the Atlantic Division on Sunday, and the game was one like no other played in Buffalo.
Buffalo went out to a 3-0 lead, Tampa Bay then outscored the Sabres, 6-1, but the Sabres finished the game outscoring the Lightning, 4-1, and left with an 8-7 victory and first place in the division.
If you go by points, Buffalo has 84 points, while Tampa Bay has 82. Carolina leads the Eastern Conference with 86 points.
If you go by points percentage, the Lightning are at .661 and the Sabres are at .656. The Hurricanes are still atop the conference at .683.
Overall. Buffalo is sixth in the NHL in points percentage and fifth in points.
Lightning forward Brendon Hagel jumped Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin at 3:35 of the second period, punching him in the head, at least, four times. Hagel should've been ejected from the game, but this is the NHL, and officiating is horrendous in almost every game and for every team.
After that, Hagel had a goal and an assist. His goal came at 9:48 of the third period, and most teams would've been out for the count.
But this Sabres team has shown us this season they never give up.
Buffalo had 17 shots in the third period and 42 on the game. The chances kept coming.
First, it was Dahlin with a few nifty moves, cutting to the middle of the ice and scoring to make it 7-6.
Just 3:26 later, Ryan McLeod made a perfect stretch pass to send Jason Zucker in alone on former Sabres goalie Jonas Johansson, and his second goal of the game made it 7-7.
Former Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons took a slashing penalty, and Josh Doan had a wide-open net off a Dahlin rebound for his second goal of the game and 21st of the season, and the comeback was complete.
That was three goals in 4:40 to go from two goals down to the lead. It was also the Sabres' fourth power play goal of the game.
Tampa Bay decided they were going to try to run the Sabres right out of the building, but the team held up with a pack mentality, which produced 102 minutes in penalties. That included five fights.
The sellout crowd never lost hope in this game. The last time I saw an atmosphere like that in this building was when Danny Briere, Chris Drury and Ryan Miller were doing damage.
"For sure we could not have done this without the crowd we had," said Dahlin following the win on Sunday. "They kept us in the game the whole match, and it was an unbelievable atmosphere in here. I think my top experience."
Dahlin has played 569 NHL games without a playoff game, and that streak likely gets broken this year. He almost got emotional talking about it on Sunday.
"This is why I play hockey. This is the best part. It's just finally. Finally we're here, and we're doing good things," the Sabres captain said. "I don't take this for granted at all. I'm so fired up. I'm so happy for Buffalo as a city, for all the fans too. This means the world."
Lost in all of this:
- Buffalo had four power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
- Tage Thompson also extended his points streak to 11 games, picking up a career-high four assists.
- Doan hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.
- Despite missing 19 games, Zucker has 19 goals.
The Sabres have a power play goal in 10-of-13 games. In that time, they're eighth in the league at 27.7%.
Buffalo is now 7-0-0 since the Olympic break, and 28-5-2 in their last 35 games.
Sunday was a night that the fans of this city won't soon forget. They are fully behind their team again, and are having a blast cheering them on.
The team has Monday off before hosting the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
