Buffalo, NY (WGR 550/WBEN) – For the second game in a row, the Buffalo Sabres reached down deep and got gutsy wins against two teams that were just sitting there waiting for them. On Tuesday Buffalo was playing four games in six days in four different cities, yet they got great goaltending from James Reimer again and hard work to score two goals after falling behind 2-1 to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2.
In the first half of this game, Buffalo again sat in the penalty box and gave Ottawa four power plays in which they capitalized twice. After the 10:18 mark of the second period, the Sabres didn’t take another penalty and scored two 5-on-5 goals to win it.
The Sabres had to overcome the penalties and a disallowed goal due to an offside challenge.
Jack Quinn had made a great play to send in JJ Peterka who got behind the defense, but Peterka beat the puck into the zone. Quinn missed the game in Minnesota because he missed the team’s morning meeting, but it seems to have gotten him going because he’s played better in the last two games.
Quinn has just refused to shoot the puck for most of this season, but he tied the game at 1-1 when Peterka set him up in front and he ripped a shot immediately to beat Anton Forsberg. It was Quinn’s first goal in 14 games.
Reimer again made great saves robbing different Ottawa shooters until the Sabres got to their game for the final 30 minutes. The hard work that went into the final two goals is the kind of effort that this team needs to give on a regular basis.
Jacob Bernard-Docker scored against his old team with a nice shot from the right point, but the goal doesn’t happen if Peyton Krebs and Tyson Kozak don’t give the effort they did to keep getting possession of the puck from the defensive zone all the way deep into the offensive zone.
The defenseman played 14:08 against his old team and was plus-2.
The game winning goal came 1:23 into the third period when Zach Benson plain and simply outworked Fabian Zetterlund behind the net. Benson then found Tage Thompson in front who had found a soft spot between Tyler Kleven and Travis Harmonic. It was Thompson’s 35th goal, but first in six games.
What can you say about the 37-year-old Reimer. He’s played three of the last four games stopping 90-of-98 shots which is a .918 save percentage.
Lindy Ruff became just the second coach in NHL history to win 600 games with one franchise. As Ruff reflected after this game he talked about the frustration of this season because he always feels he can fix anything. He said he prides himself on fixing everything and this season hasn't worked out that way.
"I'm a guy from Day 1 that always thinks I can fix everything, and I haven't been able to fix everything, and this year's been a disappointment for me."
He doesn't sound like a coach that's going to give it up at the end of the season. He said, "I really want to get this right and turn this around."
Dylan Cozens was back for his first game against his old team and assisted on Brady Tkachuk’s power play goal just 1:35 into the game. Cozens played 17:08 and was minus-2 with two shots and one hit.
Cozens got a nice video from the Sabres which he very much seemed to appreciate.
Buffalo plays host to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.