(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres leave California 3-0-0, which gives them seven wins in nine games. It also puts Buffalo in third place in the Atlantic Division, dropping the Boston Bruins down to the No. 2 Wild Card in the Eastern Conference and the Tampa Bay Lightning out a playoff spot.
Buffalo came from behind in the third period, scoring three goals to beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-2.
The Sabres continue to take silly penalties, but they killed off all five San Jose power plays, including a 20-second 5-on-3 advantage for the Sharks.
Buffalo has now killed off 17-of-18 penalties in the last five games, and is 31-of-34 over this recent nine-game run. The Sabres' 91.2% kill rate is No. 1 in the NHL during that time period.
Their .778 points percentage is second in the NHL over the last nine games.
There were points in this game where the Sabres looked like they played last night, but goalie James Reimer was absolutely spectacular in net, making 31 saves in his first career game with the Sabres.
I don’t think this win would’ve been possible had Reimer not made the save of the year on the first overall pick in this past June’s draft, Macklin Celebrini.
Had this goal gone in, it would’ve been 3-1, Sharks, and I don’t know if they could’ve comeback.
Trailing 2-1, Ruff put the line of Dylan Cozens, Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs back together to start the third period.
Krebs headed to the net, while Rasmus Dahlin set Cozens up for a one-timer that was a bomb. Just 2:07 into the third period, it was a 2-2 game.
In the last three seasons, Dahlin has taken 78 minor penalties, which is second in the NHL. He took another dumb cross-checking penalty just 2:35 after they tied it.
Alex Tuch may be the best in the NHL at stealing the puck, as he swiped another careless pass on Saturday, giving himself a shorthanded breakaway on Mackenzie Blackwood. His league-leading third shorthanded goal gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead, and helped the Sabres to go 2-7-0 when trailing entering the third period.
It is so obvious the work that Krebs put into this past offseason. Ever since Ruff gave him a chance to play in Game 2 of the year in Prague because of an injury to Nic Aube-Kubel, Krebs has played well enough to not give Ruff any reason to sit him.
Many fans had given up on the 23-year-old just like they have on 22-year-old Owen Power, just because he doesn’t hit and fight. However, Ruff has not given up on either one of them. As a matter of fact, he said he works a lot with Power to help improve his game.
Krebs scored Buffalo’s first goal after Bo Byram did a great job of killing a play, and relaying the puck up quickly to Krebs for a 2-on-1.
Tyler Toffoli did everything he possibly could to try to score on Reimer, but he couldn’t. He had numerous wide-open chances from the slot, and finished the night with 13 shot attempts.
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Buffalo flies home on Sunday, and doesn’t pay until the Minnesota Wild come to town on Wednesday.
The NHL’s second-leading scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, will be extremely questionable for the game, as he’s having an MRI on an injured knee or leg. If he misses any significant time, that would be a blow for the Wild, as he has 34 points in 19 games.
The Wild are second in the NHL with a points percentage of .750.