Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. They just had a lot of trouble managing the puck, and they were handing the puck to one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers.
Eric Comrie got his first start in goal with the Sabres, and he made some great early saves to keep the game close.
“I think we came out a little slowly, and they got the best of us at the start," said Sabres alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons after the game. "But I think we responded well, and all the way until the end, we stuck together.”
And stick together they did.
When Panthers newcomer Matthew Tkachuk went low on defenseman Henri Jokiharju in the first period, Sabres forward Alex Tuch was there immediately to let the winger know he wasn’t going to put up with it.
A little later, Tkachuk acted like he wanted to go after another Sabres player, but when he realized it was Ilya Lyubushkin, he did his best Scott Hartnell imitation and backed off the scrum and went looking for Rasmus Dahlin instead.
What Tkachuk doesn’t realize is if you go after Dahlin, he just plays harder and gets better. There was a lot of wrestling after the final horn, which Tkachuk took issue with.
“There’s some guys over there I’ll be playing against for the next eight-plus years. Especially with some of the stuff that happened at the end that they did, we’ll remember that for a while,” Tkachuk told John Wawrow of The Associated Press
One of the things that maybe helped the Sabres lose the game was they couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. Florida had six power play opportunities, and scored on two of them.
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Under new head coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers are a different team. They don’t try to just outscore you. With a one goal lead, they put on a clinic in how to play defense and just choke off your opponent.
The Sabres could never get into Florida’s zone in the third period, and they got trapped and couldn’t break through. When they dumped the puck in, it was in the wrong place, and the Panthers would easily get the puck and get it out.
Florida was so dominant defensively, the Sabres couldn’t get Comrie out of the net until there was only about 20 seconds remaining.
Buffalo only had one scoring chance in the third period, and it came on a brief 5-on-3 advantage.
Peyton Krebs, who is a gifted passer, came out from the corner with the puck and took it right towards Panthers goalie Spencer Knight, who made the save. Krebs didn’t see Owen Power had snuck in from the point and would’ve been wide-open for the tap in.
One thing I liked is as hard as it got out on the ice, the Sabres never quit. They continued to try and break through.
In the first period after Tkachuk made it a 2-1 Panthers, Zemgus Girgensons tied it just 42 seconds later. After defenseman Brandon Montour gave Florida a 4-2 lead in the second, it only took Dahlin 1:16 to make it 4-3.
Tage Thompson hasn’t had a good start to the season. He did set up Jeff Skinner for a golden opportunity and had a one-timer on the power play, but in the first two games, he’s been pretty silent.
Buffalo did win one of the first two games, but they need their 38-goal scorer if this team's going to improve.
The Sabres will leave on Monday for Edmonton, where they’ll start a four-game road trip. Buffalo will also have stops in Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle along the way.
