Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR 550) – It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t the Buffalo Sabres’ best performance on Friday, but goalie Devon Levi had to be at his best to help his team squeak by the Minnesota Wild, 3-2.
Levi was stellar in this game, making 33 saves for the Sabres. He made one late in the slot on one of the best scorers in the NHL, Karill Kaprizov, to keep his team ahead by a goal.
By the time Levi was done, he had both Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi shaking their heads
In the first period, he stole one away from Ryan Hartman that got the Sabres going about 15 minutes in.
That later led to Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson’s lines getting in on the forecheck, and it resulted in a Henri Jokiharju goal.
This was a choppy game that saw both teams having trouble passing, which produced some disjointed hockey.
The Sabres were just holding on in the second period, and Levi was standing on his head. That was until JJ Peterka used his stick to produce a turnover and send away Jeff Skinner for a breakaway. He deked around Filip Gustavsson to give the Sabres a lead they’d never lose.
In the third, Thompson started a rush with speed. With Peterka and Skinner charging the zone, they got the defense to back off. Thompson then hit a streaking Peterka to give Buffalo a 3-1 lead.
I couldn’t be more impressed with the improvement in Peterka this year. Yes, he’s on a 35-goal pace, which is mighty impressive, but it’s the other parts of his game that he has improved so much on.
It was former Sabres captain Michael Peca who was big in Rochester, making him buy into the fact that playing good defense turns into more offense.
It’s exactly what I see for 19-year-old Jiri Kulich. He’s scoring goals in bunches down in Rochester, but it seems like he’s realizing the reason he isn’t in the NHL yet is because he’s not a complete player yet. Most who see the Amerks regularly say that part of his game is improving, and I’m sure at one point, he’ll get a chance with the big club.
Despite the shot total, Buffalo defended well, forcing the Wild to miss the net 19 times. The Sabres also blocked 22 shots, with defenseman Erik Johnson accounting for five of them.
For the first time all season, the Sabres' penalty kill failed them, as both Minnesota goals came with the extra man. They were both layups, and Kaprizov was in the middle of both of them.
It didn’t help that two of the team’s best penalty killers - Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson - missed the game due to injuries. Jordan Greenway is also one of their better killers, and he was in the penalty box for one of the goals-against.
As usual, this game was poorly officiated. In the second half of the third period, both teams were committing penalties and nothing was being called. I think both coaches had to be on edge, worried that all of a sudden one would be called.
Matt Savoie played in his first NHL game and only saw five shifts for 3:55 of work. I think it was more how the game was going as to why. It wasn’t that he was playing poorly, although he did commit a turnover that produced a 3-on-1 on his last shift of the game.
Rasmus Dahlin played 25:43, while Owen Power played 22:18.
Mittelstadt didn’t have any points, but I think he was Buffalo’s best player. He was constantly in on battles, winning quite a few of them, which produced offense.
The three stars were utterly ridiculous, as all three went to the Sabres. Levi, of course, earned the first star honor, but Kaprizov was far-and-away the best skater in this game and should’ve been No 2. He did not get a star.
I would’ve made Mittelstadt star No. 3, but their choice of Peterka is also deserving.
Buffalo won by one goal, and got out shot, 35-25.
Related
The Sabres have points in five out of six games, and six out of eight.
Buffalo will next visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. I have to imagine we could see two tired teams, and the Pens played in Los Angeles on Thursday against the Kings.
Samuelsson is slated to return on Saturday after missing three games due to injury.
To make room for Samuelsson on the roster, the Sabres have sen Savoie back to the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League.
Buffalo is now sixth in the Atlantic Division, one point back of the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres are just two points back of the second place Florida Panthers.
Buffalo is currently ninth in the Eastern Conference. If you go by points percentage, the Sabres are 12th.
Pittsburgh is 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Pens come home after winning three-straight games in California.
In Pittsburgh's last 14 games against Buffalo, the Penguins are 10-3-1.
Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins with 15 points in 12 games. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have 14 points each.
In goal, Tristan Jarry left Tuesday's game after taking a puck to the mask. His eye was swollen from the contact, but it looks like he'll be in net against the Sabres.
Magnus Helberg has played three games this season, going 1-0-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. The 32-year-old was a second-round pick of the Nashville Predators back in 2011. Pittsburgh signed him in July from Detroit.
Join Brian Koziol for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6:30 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Don Granato, Samuelsson and Zemgus Girgensons.
