Buffalo, NY (WGR 550/WBEN) – The Buffalo Sabres hadn’t been able to handle the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. In the first two games which were losses, the Sabres blew a 3-1 lead and a 1-0 lead only to lose. On Thursday, Tage Thompson led a 2-on-1, used Jiri Kulich as a decoy and netted his 36th goal of the season just 27 seconds into the game.
At 4:42 Connor Clifton entered the right circle and saw both Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs in the crease and got the puck to Krebs who steered home his seventh.
Penguins’ goalie Tristan Jarry faced two shots and allowed two goals in 4:42. In October against Buffalo he played 11:33 and gave up three goals on five shots before being pulled so in two games covering 16:15, Jarry let in five Sabres goals on seven shots.
He again was pulled after 25:20 of work after Mattias Samuelson and Kulich scored goals 1:46 apart. Jarry made eight saves on 12 shots.
Things didn’t go any better for Alex Nedeljkovic as Kulich and Tyson Kozak greeted him with two goals in 28 seconds to make the score 6-1. Before the period ended Tuch was allowed the walk free down the slot for his 28th goal and it was 7-1 after 40 minutes.
Buffalo has really improved their home record lately going 10-2-0 in their last 12 and 13-4-0 in their last 17. Since Jan. 28 the Sabres points percentage of .833 at home is fifth in the NHL. They’re fifth in goals for averaging 4.08 goals per game. Since Dec. 27, they’re 13-4-0 which is sixth in the league at .765. In this timeframe, they’re second in goals with 3.88 goals per game.
With Josh Norris, Jordan Greenway and Jason Zucker out of the lineup, young players are starting to get more comfortable.
Kulich came up earlier in the season from the Rochester Americans. In his last 34 games he has 12 goals and seven assists for 19 points. The 12 goals is a 29 goal pace. Kozak has two goals and two assists for four points in his last three games and Isak Rosen made a slick pass to Samuelsson to pick up his first point in 12 NHL games.
Thompson talked about how Rosen has done some of the little things during games that others don’t notice, but Lindy Ruff was focused on how impressed he was with the 22-year-old winger on Thursday,
“I think Rosen made two or three plays that we haven’t seen. I thought he skated well, there was a lot to like about his game and when you get into the game more, and a goal against isn’t going to be the end of the game for you, all of a sudden you can feel a little bit better about your game.
“I look at the play he made with three or four minutes left on the wall where he spun around and got a great exit to our guy in the middle of the ice and that’s a play that says to me that he’s committed to making the right play and feels comfortable where that guy was on his back and to protect it and get it to the right place.”
Jacob Bernard-Docker played in his fourth straight game and again was impressive in the way he defended. Before he was traded to Buffalo, Bernard-Docker hadn’t played a game with the Ottawa Senators since Dec. 28 due to a high ankle sprain and then being a healthy scratch. The Senators 2018 first-round pick is making it hard for Ruff to take him out of the lineup,
“He showed he was hungry every shift. I really liked his game. I liked the fact he ate a couple of pucks for us, a couple of big blocks. A heck of a hit and a good hit before the fight, his intensity around the puck has been real good.
“He is hungry, he’s pushing guys to say ‘I want to be part of this. I’ve got my opportunity and I want to prove that I can stay in the lineup.’”
With a points percentage of .465, the Sabres have gone past the Philadelphia Flyers for last place in the Eastern Conference. Overall, Buffalo is 27th while the Flyers are 29th at .453.
The Penguins are just barely ahead of the Sabres in 26th with a points percentage of .466. The Boston Bruins are 25th at .473.
The Sabres head back on the road for two afternoon games over the weekend in Philadelphia and Washington. On Tuesday they travel to Ottawa to play the Senators.