After another disappointing loss at home for the on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres bounced back on Friday night with a 3-2 win on the road over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Sabres and the Rangers played a generally uneventful opening 20 minutes with each team only taking six shots on goal and not taking a penalty.
However, it was Zemgus Girgensons who put Buffalo on the board first with a nice move to the net to be Rangers goalie Alexander Georgiev for his 10th goal of the season. It was defenseman Colin Miller who made a nice play to fake a shot on goal, which opened up a lane for Girgensons to get to the net, and Miller was able to spring the Buffalo forward for the goal.
Things opened up for both teams in the second period, but both goalies did a good job keeping each other off the board. Buffalo applied some pressure and forced Artemi Panarin to take a holding penalty midway through the period, but the Sabres were unable to convert on the man advantage.
Five minutes later, it was Sam Reinhart who found himself in alone on Georgiev off a brilliant feed from Sabres captain Jack Eichel, and Reinhart made no mistake with a backhand over the left shoulder to put the Sabres up 2-0.
The third period had even more action than the second. Buffalo took an early penalty as Artemi Panarin got in behind the Sabres defense, but Henri Jokiharju was able to slow him down enough to protect the Sabres' two-goal lead while taking the penalty. The Sabres killed off that penalty, but the Rangers did not let up. New York peppered Carter Hutton with 23 shots in the third period.
The Sabres were able to pad their lead with another slick Eichel pass, this time from in the Buffalo zone to Jimmy Vesey at the Rangers' blue line. Vesey danced through three Rangers before slotting the puck through the five-hole of Georgiev to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers continued to put pressure on the Sabres and it eventually paid off. Artemi Panarin skated up the left side of the ice and threw a pass out in front that Mika Zibanejad was able to tip past Hutton to put the Rangers on the board.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen took a penalty shortly after, leading to the Rangers' second goal with 1:38 remaining in regulation. Zibanejad led a rush up the right side of the ice, using his speed to gain the zone before putting a pass to Kappo Kakko in front making Hutton make the save. Chris Kreider reached his stick in and the puck barely made it past Hutton and across the goal line to make it a 3-2 game.
Luckily for the Sabres, they were able to turn away the Rangers in the dying seconds of the game to hold on for the 3-2 win.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 10:26 - Zemgus Girgensons (10) (Colin Miller)NYR: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 15:16 - Sam Reinhart (20) (Jack Eichel, Jimmy Vesey)NYR: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 11:56 - Jimmy Vesey (8) (Jack Eichel)NYR: 17:07 - Mika Zibanejad (22) (Artemi Panarin, Eric Staal); 18:22 - Chris Kreider (20) (Kaapo Kakko, Mika Zibanejad)
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONENYR: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: NONENYR: 10:21 - Artemi Panarin (Holding - 2 min.)
Third Period:
BUF: 3:18 - Henri Jokiharju (Holding - 2 min.); 18:02 - Rasmus Ristolainen (Hooking - 2 min.)NYR: NONE
Strategic Financial Solutions Stats of the Game:
Shots:BUF: 28 (6, 16, 6)NYR: 39 (6, 10, 23)
Goalies:
BUF: Carter Hutton - 37 savesNYR: Alexander Georgiev - 25 saves
Power Plays:
BUF: 0 for 1 (0%)NYR: 1 for 2 (50%)
Three Stars presented by Losi and Gangi:
- Carter Hutton - BUF
- Jack Eichel - BUF
- Mika Zibanejad - NYR
What's Next:
The Sabres are back home to take on the Anaheim Ducks on Sundat at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 3 p.m. with the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show with Brian Koziol set for 2 p.m on WGR.
