(WGR 550) – It wasn’t necessarily how poorly the Buffalo Sabres played on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers, it was what kind of bounce back we were going to see on Friday in Calgary against the Flames.
Despite it being back-to-back against one of the best teams in the NHL, the Sabres didn’t cheat the game. They played hard, they won battles, and got an overtime win against the Flames.
Jacob Markstrom came into the game with a NHL leading nine shutouts, including one against the Sabres back on Nov. 18. He was spectacular on Friday, making 33 saves.
However, Markstrom made one mistake in overtime, and it was Dustin Tokarski getting his first shutout of the season instead.
If you’re going to be a good team, your best players must be your best players. Tage Thompson had five shots on goal and the overtime winner, while Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner added nine shots.
That means that line had 14 of the Sabres' 34 shots on goal.
Coming into this contest, Buffalo was an awful overtime team, because they almost never had possession of the puck.
Sabres head coach Don Granato decided to have Cody Eakin take the opening faceoff. He won it, and the Sabres had the puck for 1:40.
Rasmus Dahlin was a magician with the puck, and set up Tuch for a good chance. Eakin won the offensive zone draw, and again, went straight to the bench, giving the Sabres the puck for the first 2:09 of overtime.
It was just 58 seconds later when Markstrom made his only mistake. He came out of his crease to play the puck and really wasn’t under too much pressure. Markstrom totally fanned on his pass attempt, and Thompson grabbed the puck, skated past him and deposited the game-winning goal.
Tokarski had two saves in the game that were absolute robbery. Calgary didn’t get much, but they had two wide-open, cross-ice plays and Tokarski flew across the crease to rob Calle Jarnkrok, and later Chris Tanev.
Tokarski also had the league’s fourth-leading scorer in on a breakaway and took away the net, forcing Johnny Gaudreau to miss on his shot.
Some folks didn’t want to give the Sabres any credit for beating the Vegas Golden Knights and the Toronto Maples Leafs, pointing to how bad they’ve been all season.
I think it’s shortsighted not to be able to see the progress being made.
In their last eight games, the Sabres have beaten Toronto twice, Calgary, Vegas and the Minnesota Wild. Those are five quality wins wrapped around two horrendous games against the Oilers and Florida Panthers.
I realize another six-game losing streak could happen before the end of April, and I realize the Sabres are 30 points out of a playoff spot, but were you really thinking this team was going to lose Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Linus Ullmark, Jake McCabe and Rasmus Ristolainen and make the playoffs?
Buffalo is 26th in the league with a point percentage of .403, which is honestly better than I thought they’d be. Last season, with those players, they were .330.
After the game, both teams left for Vancouver. The Flames play the Canucks on Saturday, and the Sabres tangle with them on Sunday.
