Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – A great effort on Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers didn’t turn into a win, but the Buffalo Sabres now have bigger fish to fry on Tuesday when they travel to Long Island to face the New York Islanders.
You never want to lose, but losing to a Western Conference team doesn’t hurt as much, because the Oilers getting two points doesn't matter in the Sabres' playoff race.
Coming into Long Island, Buffalo is four points behind the seventh place Islanders with three games in-hand. The Sabres are also now behind in points percentage, .554 to .548. The Pittsburgh Penguins are three points in front of Buffalo, and are even in games played.
I very much enjoyed watching Monday’s game. It was two teams that played fast. We saw all sorts of scoring chances and stellar goaltending from Oilers All-Star goalie Stuart Skinner.
Skinner was, by far, the difference in this game, but the world’s best player by a mile, Connor McDavid, showed what he can do if you give him just a tiny inch. McDavid only had three shot attempts, but he scored on two of them.
Rasmus Dahlin has good instincts, and normally taking a chance in the neutral zone wouldn’t be a big deal for him. However, on McDavid’s second goal, it turned into a really bad decision. It failed, which gave the Oilers numbers, and McDavid approached the zone in full flight.
Once that happens, there’s nothing Jacob Bryson can do. His speed gets Craig Anderson moving, which opens the pads and it’s a goal.
Normally I would say that’s a goal Anderson would want back, but McDavid gets the shot off in stride, and it’s something nobody else can do. I’ve seen McDavid score that goal too many times to blame Anderson.
Casey Mittelstadt had a shooter's mentality, as did his teammates, and they had a lot of zone time. Skinner absolutely robbed Mittelstadt twice from the slot. The one shot was an absolute bullet that Skinner somehow got his glove on.
Jeff Skinner put the puck through the crease and out the other side twice, while Tage Thompson did it once.
Dylan Cozens scored his 24th goal of the season on a slick spin-o-rama move, but Skinner foiled him numerous times, including on a 2-on-1 rush.
In the third period, as the Sabres were trying to tie the game, Owen Power found Buffalo's Skinner for a dangerous one-timer, but Edmonton's Skinner made the save.
The fans certainly got their money’s worth from two teams that skated, had pace and created scoring chances. There were 76 shots in this game, with Skinner making 37 saves and Anderson stopping 34.
Now it’s time to move on to Tuesday.
“I thought we played well and dictated the pace, and had the better chances," said Mittelstadt following Monday's loss. "It wasn’t the result we wanted, but there’s definitely some things we can build on. We’ve got to move forward, because we’ve got a big one tomorrow.”
Dylan Cozens also was transitioning from Monday's Edmonton game to Tuesday's Islanders game.
“It was a pretty exciting game, both teams were going back-and-forth," said Cozens after Monday's loss. "That’s one we were hoping we could get, at least, a point out of, but we’ve got a big game tomorrow against the Islanders.”
Monday was, of course, a loss, but Cozens loves the chance to play the Islanders right away.
“In the playoffs, that’s how it is. You’re going to lose games, and you’re going to have a game the next day. You’ve got to be able to reset, and tomorrow is a huge game for us against a team that we’re battling with for one of those Wild Card spots. So we’re going to be ready,” Cozens said.
Sabres head coach Don Granato told Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase on Tuesday on WGR that Tyson Jost will be back in the lineup. He missed Monday's loss with a minor injury.
The Sabres have lost three of their last four, and a regulation loss would put them six points behind the Isles with three games in-hand and one more head-to-head matchup.
Ilya Sorokin is third in the NHL in save percentage at .926. The All-Star goalie also has an impressive 2.34 goals-against average.
In Buffalo, the Sabres beat Sorokin, 3-2, pouring 45 shots on him on "Ryan Miller Night". Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 24-of-26 shots for the Sabres that night, and he could be in net again for this game.
Jordan Greenway spent much of Monday’s game just finding his way with his new teammates. He played 12:07 of ice-time.
The Islanders have a big injury, as Mathew Barzal has been out since Feb. 20. Cal Clutterbuck and Jean-Gabriel Pageau have also been out hurt.
Bo Horvat has played 13 games since coming over from the Vancouver Canucks in a trade. He has five goals and three assists for eight points.
If you haven’t seen too much of the Islanders this season, you may be surprised to know that Brock Nelson has 27 goals and 34 assists for 61 points in 65 games.
New York has been stingy, giving up just nine goals in six games.
Tuesday is another game broadcasted on ESPN+ and Hulu, so the only place to catch Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the play-by-play is WGR Sports Radio 550. Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6:30 p.m. EST.
Losi and Gangi
