Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres gave a lot better effort on Friday against the New York Rangers, but goaltender Alexander Georgiev was the star of the game, stopping 36 of 37 Sabres shots, leading the Rangers to a 2-1 victory.
It took the Sabres 54:37 to finally break through on Georgiev when Brett Murray got in close and converted his own rebound. The Sabres had been all over the Rangers since the start of the second period, firing 31 shots on goal, but Georgiev just kept frustrating them.
Buffalo’s sense of urgency finally seemed to have paid off when it appeared with 58 second left in regulation, Victor Olofsson had tied the game. The puck hit Rangers defenseman Patrik Nemeth and popped up. It went under the crossbar and up into the top part of the net.
However, the play went to Toronto for an automatic review, and it was ruled that Rasmus Dahlin was inside the zone before the puck and the goal was waved off.
The Sabres, of course, were disappointed, but they kept coming at the Rangers. Tage Thompson hit the post before time ran out.
Mika Zibanejad scored the Rangers' first goal, but he was far from the star of the game, or even in the top-five of best players for the Rangers. How Georgiev wasn’t the game’s first star, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn’t the game’s second star is beyond me. Both stole the show in this game.
Zibanejad only scored because a puck bounced off of Mark Jankowski and right to him.
Luukkonen has played two games this season with the Sabres and has a stingy 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
The Rangers were absolutely running the Sabres over to start this game.
Luukkonen was keeping his team in it, and they survived the period down by just one goal.
This game was so much different from the Anaheim game, because after the first, the Sabres were on their game and pushing the pace for the final 40 minutes. They totally outplayed the Rangers in the final 40, but a hot goalie stole two points from them.
Jeff Skinner had eight shots on goal in this game. Rasmus Asplund had five shots.
In the last two games, Dylan Cozens was counted on more than he had been at any point this season, skating a season-high 21:30 on Tuesday and 19:40 on Friday.
Buffalo will try to carry the momentum into Saturday against the Washington Capitals. On Friday, the Capitals lost at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2. That broke a two-game winning streak and gave them three losses in five games.
Tom Wilson didn’t finish the game, so you have to wonder if he’ll play against Buffalo.
Ilya Samsonov played against the Penguins, so you have to believe that Vitek Vanecek will play on Saturday. He’s had a mastery over the Sabres since the start of last season.
This season, Vanecek is 4-3-5 with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
Alex Ovechkin has 20 goals in 27 games this season, which gives him 43 points. That puts him third in NHL scoring.
Sabres head coach Don Granato is hoping to have Malcolm Subban back in goal for Saturday. Subban got injured during his only game with the Sabres in Carolina against the Hurricanes. He skated with the team on Friday and hoped to get in goal on Saturday.
Things have been a whirlwind since he was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I’ve been doing pretty well with it, just trying to keep a level head and stay focused," Subban said. "Everyone has made this transition really easy for me.”
With the way the goaltending has gone in Buffalo this season, Subban will get a real opportunity to prove himself.
“I’m going to keep working hard for whatever opportunity I get, and just try to play my game when I get in there and just calm down and focus," Subban said.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams will join Brian Koziol and myself during the pregame at 6:10 p.m. EST for his monthly visit on WGR. Join us when pregame coverage starts at 6 p.m. EST when we’ll also have interviews Granato and Subban.
