Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have now come out of the Olympic break with four-straight wins, thanks to Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
The evening started with the fans honoring Team USA's gold medal winners Tage Thompson, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. The sellout crowd was loud and proud, and Thompson was almost emotional after the game.
"What an awesome night. So cool that my family got to be there for puck drop. I had no idea that was happening," said Thompson following the win. "To get to share that moment with them and with Jack, Noah, and 'Bretsky' [Sabres and Team USA massage therapist Brett Compton], that was really special. And what an amazing reception from the crowd. It was a little emotional for me, and it meant a lot, so thank you to all the fans who supported us and showed up tonight."
After the first period, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said the team felt a jolt of energy as a result of the opening ceremony.
"That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen at KeyBank [Center]," Dahlin said.
He added that around 10 guys came up to him after the ceremony and the first goal by Jason Zucker at 4:02 of the first period, and said they were ready to jump through a wall.
The Sabres had their way in the first half of the game.
In the second period, Owen Power’s shot from the point went in off of Rasmus Andersson’s glove to extend Buffalo's lead to 2-0 less than a minute in.
A short time later, Thompson came through the right circle to score the eventual game-winner and make it a 3-0 contest for the Sabres.
The team seemed to lose it’s way for the second half of the game, but in the end, they found a way to win after Vegas netted two goals in 1:37 to make it 3-2.
It seemed like the Golden Knights had multiple great looks, but they’d either hit the post, miss the net, or had their shots hit sticks, skates or legs in front of Alex Lyon. Much of that was because Buffalo did have good positioning in the passing and shooting lanes.
They also got many key saves from Lyon, who is now 13-2-0 in his last 15 games.
Maybe the biggest play in those minutes came at the very end with the Vegas goaltender pulled.
Peyton Krebs just fought as hard as he could to get control of the puck in his own end. He had players draped on him, but somehow got the puck into the neutral zone to run out the clock.
He easily could’ve tried to have scored, but that would’ve given Vegas the puck back, and his body wasn’t squared up very well either.
With the win, Buffalo now has a points percentage of .639, and remain second in the Atlantic Division standings.
With a regulation loss to the San Jose Sharks late Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens remain third in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .625. The Detroit Red Wings are not far behind at .623, but had the night off.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning also lost in regulation to the Minnesota Wild, and still sit atop the division with a .678 points percentage.
When looking at points in the standings, the Sabres are now only two points back of the Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo flies to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to play the Penguins on Thursday night.
Related
