(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres got great goaltending from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and a gutsy performance from a defense that was missing four regulars and could only dress five.
It all amounted to a win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in their building, 4-2. Colorado had won eight-straight games against Buffalo coming into Thursday's contest.
Luukkonen made numerous big saves on the night, including 15 in the third period to preserve the win. Colorado outshot Buffalo, 17-1, and took over a game that Buffalo had played well in for 40 minutes.
The Sabres built a 3-0 lead heading into the third, and even though Colorado came at them, I didn’t see any panic as they tried to get the game to the garage. They iced the puck numerous times, realizing that trying to do something else might result in a turnover.
The effort was still very good in the third period. They did battle, as that never stopped. The biggest problem I saw was the passing was horrendous. They couldn’t complete a five-foot pass, and Colorado would just come right back at them.
Buffalo got up on Colorado early, as Tage Thompson scored just 54 seconds into the game. Alex Tuch then made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 12:52. That gave Luukkonen a chance to just play his game, knowing he had the lead.
I thought Luukkonen started to play better in Pittsburgh. He gave up three goals, but I thought his game wasn’t as hesitant. He looked confident, which I hadn’t seen from him this year.
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The Sabres knew Lawrence Pilut was going to play for the injured Jacob Bryson, who is day-to-day. However, Owen Power got hurt warming up before they got on the ice, and with Kyle Okposo also day-to-day, the Sabres only had 19 players to dress with five defensemen.
I think playing a lot and playing in altitude finally caught up to them.
Mattias Samuelsson played 31:31 on the night, while Rasmus Dahlin put in 29:27, Kale Clague had 23:56, Pilut played 17:44 and Casey Fitzgerald played 14:24.
One player that stood out to me was Victor Olofsson. I liked how hard he was on pucks, how hard he worked to get back into the defensive zone. On Dahlin’s goal, he pressured in the corner, got support from Tyson Jost, and caused the turnover.
Dahlin found the opening down the slot, and Jost fed him for the goal.
That makes two games in-a-row that the Sabres got excellent goaltending. Craig Anderson had a 40-save shutout against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Thursday night was a win this team can be proud of. They stayed out of the penalty box, only having to kill off two power plays, and worked hard to create offense around Alexandar Georgiev.
Colorado had chances, but there were other plays where the Sabres really hustled to break up rushes on, what could’ve been, dangerous plays in front.
Mikko Rantanen and Evan Rodrigues brought Colorado to within a goal, with the second goal being scored with the goalie pulled at 18:38.
But, again, there was zero panic from this team. They took the faceoff, pressed hard and Dylan Cozens scored the empty-net goal to seal the game.
Buffalo is now 7-3-2 in its last 12 games, and play in Arizona on Saturday against the Coyotes.
Don’t forget, you’ll be able to hear Saturday night's game on News Radio 930 WBEN.
