Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres came out of the Olympic break by picking the season up right where they left off.
Despite playing a fairly tight game from start-to-finish, the Sabres managed to prevail with a 2-1 win on the road.
The win sprung the Sabres past the Detroit Red Wings into third place in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have a points percentage of .621 with 72 points. The second-place Montreal Canadiens also have 72 points, but their points percentage is .632, because they have a game in-hand on both teams.
The Sabres and Devils were both sloppy to start this game with many turnovers, which is expected when you haven’t played in three weeks. That meant Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jake Allen had to be sharp and they were.
Allen had to come up big, first making huge saves on Ryan McLeod and Noah Ostlund, who were left open. Not to be outdone, Nico Hischier was allowed to bring a puck right in front and Dawson Mercer was pretty much in the crease, banging away at the puck. Luukkonen held strong, though.
The Sabres power play looked awful, especially when Rasmus Dahlin was knocked down, allowing Jesper Bratt a breakaway that he put over the net.
It was the second period when the Sabres seemed to have shed part of the rust and become the better team.
Right off the opening faceoff, Dahlin made a perfect pass to Josh Dunne, sending him in through the left circle, but Allen kept the game tied at 0-0.
The Devils weren’t quite done, as Luukkonen stopped Mercer and USA Olympic hero Jack Hughes on 2-on-1 rushes, as well as Bratt on the doorstep.
Tage Thompson said he felt rusty to start the game, but he was himself by the middle of the second period. Buffalo knew it wanted the lead after 40 minutes, because New Jersey is 18-0-0 when leading after two periods and 1-19-1 when trailing after two.
With injuries to Josh Norris and Zach Benson, Peyton Krebs has been getting a lot of time with Thompson and Alex Tuch, and he appears to really have found his confidence.
Krebs led a 2-on-1 and made a nice little move, which opened up a passing lane to Thompson sprinting down the middle. Thompson put a nifty move on Allen, and the Sabres had their lead at the end of two periods.
The same pair combined again midway through the third period when Hughes overskated a puck at his own blue line, turning it over to Thompson.
Krebs saw an immediate crease between the forwards and the defense, and Thompson set him up off on the left side. Krebs then put a good shot over Allen’s arm.
In his last 12 games, Krebs has five goals and six assists for 11 points.
Luukkonen continued his great play, and probably would’ve gotten a shoutout had five Sabres not gotten caught in their own end as the Devils pulled their goalie.
Owen Power had been out there for 1:41 and failed to get the puck out. That quickly turned into Timo Meier alone as the extra man, banging away at the crease to make it 2-1.
Luukkonen finished the game as the No. 1 star with 27 saves. He’s played two games in New Jersey this season and won 3-1 and 2-1.
The Sabres netminder is now 8-2-1 in his last 12 games, and has a 2.42 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
In that same time period, Alex Lyon is 11-2-0 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
Colten Ellis is 3-1-1 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
Buffalo is 13-2-1 in their last 16 road games. Their 35 points on the road this season is eighth in the NHL, while their points percentage of .583 is 11th.
This was a good confidence-building game for a team that has many players that have never been in a playoff race before. They had three weeks off, but proved to themselves that they didn’t lose their edge.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff gave the team off Thursday in Fort Lauderdale before they play the Florida Panthers on Friday, and then the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
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