Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Tuesday was the second game in-a-row the Sabres had two points in regulation late in the third period, only to give two conference foes those points, while Buffalo only got one.
Buffalo started the season failing to get games against the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens to overtime for a point. Good teams would’ve found a way to get, at least, one point in many of those games.
In the last two games, the Sabres have found a way to get points, which means they’re 4-1-2 in their last seven games, getting points in six of them. That’s a points percentage of .714.
In Toronto on Saturday, Buffalo gave up one scoring chance to the Maple Leafs in the third period, and it resulted in the game-tying goal.
Then in overtime, they blew two Grade-A opportunities with Jack Quinn coming down the slot, leading a 2-on-1 only to try a pass instead of using his elite shot. The pass to Tage Thompson hit a skate, but the puck went to the slot, where Owen Power was by himself. However, the puck went off his stick, eventually leading to a John Tavares breakaway and the game-winning goal.
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Then on Tuesday night, Buffalo native Miles Wood continued to kill the Sabres like he did with the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche.
First, he goes to the net and tips in a puck to tie the game with 6:05 left in the third period.
Then in overtime, Jiri Kulich had a wide-open breakaway on Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves, but Columbus got a big save.
Power, who probably had his worst game of the season, lost the battle along the wall in overtime. He was soft on Wood as he gained the zone, and was very soft, just letting him go to the net with no resistance.
Kulich blew the zone and left the middle open, which is a habit most of the Sabres have this year. Wood then deflected in his 12th goal in 22 career games against Buffalo.
So two Eastern Conference foes should’ve left the last two games with no points, while the Sabres had four total points. However, in both cases, Toronto and Columbus left with two points and Buffalo had one each game.
The loss broke Buffalo’s four-game home winning streak, leaving them 4-0-1 in their last five. Meanwhile, Columbus is now 4-1-0 on the road this season.
This ended the Sabres' second five-game segment, and they reached head coach Lindy Ruff’s goal this time with six points in the five games.
The Sabres came out very flat in this game, and were lucky they were only down 1-0 through 15 minutes. Alex Lyon saw the first nine shots of the game and was very good.
The only goal-against came when a Power pass hit Conor Timmins in the leg, resulting in the puck going right to Yegor Chinakhov for an unassisted goal.
It was the Peyton Krebs line with Josh Dunne and Beck Malenstyn that got the team going. They were, by far, Buffalo’s best line on Tuesday. They provided the only forecheck Buffalo had early, they got going starting behind the net.
The Sabres started using their speed in the second period and were much better. The Krebs line continued to be hard down low and around the net, and others followed along.
Josh Doan was in front of the Blue Jackets net, and read the play perfectly when Timmins stepped up to keep pressure on. The puck went to Alex Tuch, who in one motion got the puck to Doan, and the winger swatted home his third of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
Just 2:23 later, the Ryan McLeod line went to work in the offensive zone. This time, it was defenseman Bo Byram activating inside the zone with McLeod along the wall. The Sabres center put the puck to the net and it hit Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson in the leg, and Buffalo had its first lead of the game.
As the buzzer sounded to end the period, the Krebs line got under the skin of the Blue Jackets' two leading scorers, and they went after the Sabres. Buffalo was more than willing to oblige to get Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko to the penalty box, giving the Sabres a power play to start the third period.
Buffalo didn’t score, but at the 2:40 mark of the final frame, we saw Malenstyn, Dunne and others in the crease banging away at the puck. By the time they were done, Dunne had pounded home his first NHL goal and the Sabres had their lead back.
This line also got Severson so worked up near the end of the first period, he took a penalty too.
I was very impressed with the hustle I saw from Bryram. On three separate occasions, he hustled back and helped break up plays that looked like breaks for the Jackets.
Lyon made 35 saves in this game, as did Greaves.
Buffalo's next action is Thursday in Boston against the Bruins.
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