Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins played in the first ever combined Pride Game in the NHL. It’s an initiative that allows everybody, no matter what their beliefs or preferences, to be involved in our great sport.
This was a game for the Sabres where they were officially eliminated from the playoffs for the 10th-straight year, which ties a NHL record. Honestly, when I started covering the Sabres, I always thought the playoffs were a given. I never could’ve dreamed that Buffalo would go 10-straight years without a playoff game.
Their very bad first period is why the Sabres dropped a 3-2 decision to the Penguins, but the kids on this team are taking ownership and they helped this team never give up and almost tie the game.
Late in the third period, it looked like Sam Reinhart was going to tie the game. A very slow moving puck got by Tristan Jarry and I thought it was going in, but it nudged the post and came right back to Jarry.
Buffalo’s goals were scored by two linemates - Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson. Mittelstadt now has goals in four of his last five games, six of his last eight and seven in his last 10. The former 2017 first round pick has eight goals this season, and if you take his totals over 82 games, it would equal 22 goals.
Thompson’s goal gave him four goals in six games. His 82-game total would be 19.
The other player on that line is Rasmus Asplund. He’s on a 26-goal pace.
Victor Olofsson is also scoring on a 22-goal pace, but much of his damage is done on the power play.
In the first period, Pittsburgh funneled the Sabres into areas of the neutral zone that forced them into numerous costly turnovers. Dustin Tokarski did allow Jared McCann to score from below the goal line, but his 11 saves were the only reason his team was only down by a goal.
You could see the Sabres starting to get their game back in the second period. Reinhart had a glorious chance off a rebound that he thought was going in, but Mark Jankowski got back and sprawled to make the save.
Dylan Cozens almost never makes the mistake he made behind the Sabres net, handing to puck right to Teddy Blueger. He found former Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues alone in front for the goal.
Tokarski picked up his first NHL win since 2015 on Thursday in Washington against the Capitals. Other than the McCann goal, he made 38 saves on the afternoon and has raised his save percentage up to .910 in eight games played. Tokarski is facing almost 37 shots per-game.
Buffalo is now 0-5-0 against Pittsburgh this season, and has been outscored 20-6. The Sabres got the Penguins’ best game and showed they’re not afraid of it.
Back before the Penguins and Bruins started playing the Sabres, I said it’s going to be bad news for the New York Islanders and Capitals, because they have already played a majority of their games against Buffalo and picked up 12 points and 13 points, respectively
Pittsburgh has already caught the Islanders, and is just three points back of Washington. The Penguins have three games left against the Sabres, while the Islanders have two. The Capitals are finished, and the Boston Bruins still have five games left against Buffalo, which could net them 10 points. They are four points back of the Isles, five behind the Pens and eight in back of the Caps with, at least, two games in-hand on all three teams.
The Sabres and Penguins have another afternoon puck drop on Sunday. Join Brian Koziol and me for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 2 p.m. ET.
***Photo: Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)
