Boston, MA (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres walked into Boston, won two games and outscored the Bruins 9-2 and now come home for Game 5 leading the Bruins three games to one on the best of seven series.
In this series there have been many of the Sabres that have played extremely well, but in my mind, there is one player that after four games would be their MVP.
Bo Byram has been a force for this team. He and his partner Owen Power have picked up where Rasmus Dahlin has fallen off. In four games Byram has been a monster defensively the way he’s killed plays and gotten the Sabres out of the zone and into transition. Buffalo’s goals against of 2.25 is fourth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their penalty killing of 84.6% is fifth.
It hasn’t only been defense. Byram is second in defenseman scoring in the NHL with three goals and two assists for five points. His three goals lead the league for blue liners. He and Peyton Krebs also lead the NHL in plus/minus at plus-7.
This shouldn’t be surprising. The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in Byram’s rookie season and he was their best defenseman in the finals. It just seems like Byram is at his best in the biggest games.
Of course Byram’s teammates have noticed. Tage Thompson said,
“He’s a gamer, he lives for these big games, he wants to be a difference maker, I think you see that out there, he’s got three goals out there and he plays the game hard and he has experience being through it already.
“I think the biggest thing that stands out is the confidence in his game he’s been great all season and he’s taken a another step in the playoffs and that’s what you need is everyone to take another step in the playoffs as there’s always another gear and another level to find and a lot of guys have done that.”
Power is playing in the playoff for the first time and he has an assist in each game giving him four. He is plus-6 in four games and has been very strong on the penalty kill. His game has improved so much this season in the way he defends and uses his size and strength to kill plays and ride players out of the play.
I’m only mentioning plus-minus because it’s so out of whack with the two teams. In addition to the players I have mentioned, Sabres leading scorer Alex Tuch is plus-6, but lets look at the Bruins.
Charlie McAvoy is considered an elite defenseman in the NHL. In four games he’s minus-4. David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Hampus Lindholm are minus-5, while Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt are both minus-4.
Buffalo is scoring 3.75 goals per game which is second in the playoffs behind the Anaheim Ducks.
After Game 4 Lindy Ruff was livid because first the first time all game the team let its guard down and let Boston score a shorthanded goal with 40 seconds left to break Alex Lyon’s shutout. Lyon stopped 23-of-24 shots and in these playoffs he’s 2-0 with a 0.89 goals against and .964 save percentage.
Byram wants his team to be careful because he knows the hardest win to get is the fourth to win a series.
Buffalo still doesn't have a power play goal in April, but Josh Doan pretty much scored one in the game. Doan got position on McAvoy in the crease and converted a pass from Ryan McLeod two seconds after Arvidsson left the box. He was nowhere near getting back in the play and Ruff said they're counting it as a power play goal. Buffalo was improved with the extra man there with both units moving the puck well. Right before Doan scored, Thompson was wide open for his signature one-time, but his stick broke in half as he connected with the puck.
Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak both left the game early. Ruff said both were cleared to return, but he felt there was no need with the game well in hand.
With me traveling back to Buffalo on Monday, Owen Parker has you covered at Sabres practice. He’s @OwenP29.
Bo Byram has been Buffalo's best player through four games
Bo Byram has been Buffalo's best player through four games
