Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres began their road trip out west with a stop in Arizona to take on the Coyotes. This was the first of three games out west with the team looking for a bounce-back win.
The first time these two teams met was back at the beginning of the season in Buffalo, which resulted in a 2-1 Sabres win in a shootout. Since then, the Coyotes have gone 10-29-4, which puts them in second-to-last place in the league.
The Sabres controlled play from very early on in the game, going up 2-0 in the first period with a power play goal from Kyle Okposo, and then a nice set up from Casey Mittelstadt to Peyton Krebs for his third goal of the year.
It was more of a quiet second period with one goal coming from Alex Tuch for his 12th point in a Sabres uniform in just 11 games.
The Coyotes managed to get one back in the third, however, Craig Anderson was the star of the show in the final minutes, making 27 saves on the night in his first game since Nov. 2.
The Sabres played a very fast-paced game against the Coyotes coming in off of three days rest.
Here are three observations from the win:
Rick Scuteri - USA TODAY Sports
1.) Creative passing plays
The Sabres are poised to pass with a young group of playmakers in Krebs, Mittelstadt, and Tuch.
Since arriving to the team in the Jack Eichel trade, Krebs and Tuch have been standouts on and off the ice, and their play seems to be rubbing off on to their teammates.
This game saw two of the three goals coming off chances created by these two young stars. Sabres head coach Don Granato has spoke of Krebs' incredible vision and hockey IQ. The winger displayed this vision on his assist to Tuch, finding him behind the Coyotes defense all alone.
This sort of thread-the-needle-type play is a familiar sight that Sabres fans could get used to well into the future, with players like Mittelstadt creating plays like this, as well.
Rick Scuteri - USA TODAY Sports
2.) Bouncing back
At certain points in a season, teams have struggles stringing together groups of wins. This has been the Sabres' case for most of this year, however, it's good to see they can pick themselves up when down.
While Arizona is one of the worst teams in the league, it's still important the Sabres secure wins such as these. In years past, the team would struggle against the bad teams of the league, but excel against the better teams.
For the Sabres to be a good NHL franchise, they need to be able to get these kinds of wins when they can in order to build off them and help young players build confidence.
Rick Scuteri - USA TODAY Sports
3.) Stepping up
With Aaron Dell receiving a three-game suspension following their game against the Ottawa Senators, plus Michael Houser entering the NHL's COVID-19 protocols, the Sabres were without a goalie. That was until Craig Anderson made his return for the first time in almost three months.
Anderson looked true to form after his upper-body injury, securing his team-leading fifth win of the season. The 40-year-old netminder didn't seem to miss a beat, keeping the Coyotes out of the net until halfway through the third period.
Along with that, the Sabres had three key players enter COVID-19 protocols prior to the morning skate. Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Olofsson, and Rasmus Asplund were all out of the game, but the rest of the team stepped up in their absence on extremely short notice.
This teamwork is an essential part of the team, and something that they have exemplified throughout the majority of the season.
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With an unknown timetable for the three players in COVID-19 protocols, it poses an interesting dilemma for Granato, as the team travels to Colorado with only a night's rest between games. The Avalanche are also the second-best team in the league with a 31-8-3 record, which poses its own problems for the Sabres to solve.
Sabres pregame coverage on WGR begins at 7 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol and Paul Hamilton, with puck drop slated for 8 p.m. EST.
Losi and Gangi
