Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - If I tell you the Buffalo Sabres' game with the New Jersey Devils on Friday ended 5-0, and then told you the Sabres outshot New Jersey, 42-23, and were ahead in shot attempts, 88-38, you would tell me the blue and gold won the game.
Well guess again, because Jake Allen likely had his easiest shutout of his career.
Buffalo skated well in the first period and got shots, but this is the Devils we’re talking about. This is the third-best team in the NHL for a reason, with a points percentage of .674.
When New Jersey got a chance to score on Alex Lyon, who was playing his first full game since Nov. 8, they did. They are a very opportunistic team, and turnovers on two of the first three Devils goals by Bo Byram wound up in the net.
On New Jersey’s first goal, Byram turned it over behind the net. Timo Meier tried to put it out in front, but it hit Alex Tuch and went straight up in the air. Nico Hischier was right in the crease to pound it home.
That was one more battle than the Sabres won all night with all the loose pucks that were laying around Allen.
The Sabres may be the worst team in the NHL at covering people in the middle of the ice, and it happened again on the next goal. Ondrej Palat and Arseny Gritsyuk were both left alone in the slot, Palat fanned on his attempt, but Gritsyuk didn’t.
Byram turned it over again, which led to a huge shot from the left circle from Brendan Dillon. That’s one Lyon needs to stop.
Byram has struggled with every partner he’s had this season, including Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Conor Timmins. His confidence is shot, and I have no idea how he can get it back.
The thing that was most bothersome to me was the effort on loose pucks around the Devils net, and there were a lot of them. Had Buffalo been harder on pucks in this department, this could’ve been a whole different situation.
It is also surprising that the team didn’t get more of a lift at 2:24 of the first period when the fans blew the roof off the place.
If you recall last season, Stefan Noesen threw a cheap shot hit on Tage Thompson, putting him out of the game. Mattias Samuelsson and Jiri Kulich were among the players who just stood there and did nothing. The Devils just laughed at them and mocked them.
Head coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams blew up at the team, and had to explain to them what the proper response is when defending teammates.
It’s unbelievable how professional hockey players needed that explained to them, but it worked, and they’ve been there for each other ever since.
"That situation was embarrassing, and that’s never going to happen again," said Dahlin on Friday after the first period.
As for Thompson, the captain was very proud.
"That was unbelievable. He’s a nail gun," Dahlin said. "He’s not fun to fight against, that’s for sure. We talked about it before the game, and he didn’t want anyone to do it. He wanted to do it himself, and I have respect for that. That’s big."
After the game, Thompson disclosed how many teammates offered to take on Noesen for him.
"There’s a lot of guys in the room asking, but I said I wanted to do it," said Thompson following the loss. "It’s a nice thing that everyone wanted to do it, but I figured I’d take care of my own business.
"I think we all know what happened last year. I didn’t like the hit. I talked to him in warmups, and he said he would give me one and I respect that."
Ruff also praised one of his captains following the game.
"I’ve got a ton of respect for that. The team’s in a pretty good place when it comes to responding and doing the right thing," said Ruff. "It’s something they delt with on their own, and that’s the guy that hit him. The fact that he wanted to go after him I thought was great."
After winning 4-of-5 games, the Sabres have lost two in-a-row and are dead-last in the Eastern Conference, with no real hope of recovering.
The Sabres are in Minnesota to take on the Wild on Saturday night.
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