Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - It’s an oversimplification of Wednesday's 1-0 win by the Minnesota Wild, but one team got a 4-on-1 break for a goal, and the other team didn’t.
In the first period, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had three players going to the net as he was on the wall, just in front of the goal line. Wild defenseman Brock Faber baited him into thinking he could get the puck to the net, and picked it off, starting the 4-on-1 rush the other way.
Unfortunately for Buffalo, Wild superstar scorer Kirill Kaprizov was on the rush, and he played give-and-go with Joel Eriksson Ek to have a layup for his 14th goal of the season.
After that, it was the story of two goaltenders having an extraordinary night.
Buffalo wasted a stellar performance from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 28 saves on 29 shots faced. But it was at the other end where Filip Gustavsson stood on his head, turning away all 39 shots he faced to secure his second shutout of the season.
The Sabres had 87 shot attempts on Wednesday night, with 11 coming from Tage Thompson and 10 from Dahlin.
Dahlin had two glorious chances open down the slot in the second period, but Gustavsson robbed him both times.
Late in the third period, Thompson set up a wide-open Owen Power, but he was stopped.
With Luukkonen pulled for the extra attacker, Thompson made a nice move to set up an open slot shot for himself, but Gustavsson somehow got an arm on it.
Alex Tuch tipped a puck that Gustavsson stopped, and the rebound went to JJ Peterka, who had half the net open, but his shot hit the side of the net. It may have hit the arm of one of the Wild defenders on the way to the net.
This was not a game where the Sabres didn’t work hard or got frustrated. They got pucks and bodies to the net, but they got "goalied" by Gustavsson, who has had a fantastic season so far.
Minnesota leads the NHL with a 2.36 goals-against average, and are third overall with a .727 points percentage.
One thing the Sabres can be proud of is they reduced how many penalties they take. As a matter of fact, they didn't have one single penalty in the game.
Related
There are no games on Thanksgiving, so the Sabres will enter Friday’s game with the Vancouver Canucks out of the playoff picture.
That’s because the Boston Bruins went to Long Island and beat the New York Islanders, 6-3. That puts the Bruins into third place in the Atlantic Division, and the Tampa Bay Lightning into the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot.
Boston has 25 points, Tampa Bay has 24, while the Sabres still have 23.
The New York Rangers are in the No. 1 Wild Card position with 25 points. Buffalo has two games in-hand on the Bruins, while the Lightning and the Rangers have one game in-hand on the Sabres.
Some people like to do the standings by points percentage. If you do it that way, Tampa Bay is in third place in the Atlantic Division and the Sabres would own the second Wild Card position and would be in the playoffs.