(WGR Sports Radio 550) - I’ve heard head coach Lindy Ruff say this numerous times: Good teams find ways to win hockey games when they don’t have their "A" game. That’s exactly what the Buffalo Sabres did during their 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stole his team a hockey game, making 35 saves on 37 shots faced.
In the three games before Sunday, the Sabres were at their very best, defending as a team and were only giving up 21 shots per-game. St. Louis had 15 shots in the first period alone.
For much of the 13-game winless streak, the team hung Luukkonen out to dry, and then he wasn’t playing up to his standard. In his last three games, he’s only given up five goals, and is 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage.
In addition to Luukkonen, Buffalo won the special teams battle, scoring two power play goals on two very nice entries.
The Sabres did get back into their bad habit of taking penalties, giving the Blues four power plays in the first 31:06 of the game. But led by Luukkonen and very noticeable desperation from the penalty killers, which included key blocked shots, St. Louis went 0-for-4.
Peyton Krebs got the Sabres on the board because he was at the net. Jiri Kulich won a faceoff to the right of the Blues net, Bo Byram at the point saw Krebs and got the puck to him for the easy goal.
Tage Thompson scored against his old team when on the power play, three guys came up ice with speed. Jason Zucker found Thompson in the middle of the ice, and he wired a shot past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.
St. Louis erased that two-goal lead in the third period, but another outstanding entry into the zone on the power play saw Jack Quinn set up Zucker in front, and it was 3-2, Buffalo.
Kulich put the game out of reach with a goal that was pure skill. He took off with speed, and absolutely undressed Blues defenseman Justin Faulk at his own blue line. He then blew past defenseman Cam Fowler, who couldn’t keep up, made a nice move to his left, which made Binnington open up his pads.
The 20-year-old then slid the puck right between the legs of the netminder for his third goal in three games, and fifth goal in 10.
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It was certainly a nice win for the Sabres, and it showed they are capable of winning in different ways.
The problem is they got themselves so far behind when they went winless in 13 games that three wins didn’t get them out of the Eastern Conference cellar. Buffalo has a points percentage of .432, while the Detroit Red Wings are at .444 and the New York Rangers are .471.
Buffalo and Detroit have 32 points, while the Rangers have 33.
If you’re wondering what it will take to get into the playoffs, Buffalo is eight points behind the Ottawa Senators for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They still have to leapfrog eight teams to get there.
Buffalo will spend New Year’s Eve in Dallas to play the Stars. One of the Sabres' best games of the season was in October at home against the Stars, where they won, 4-2.
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