The 40 goal scorer hasn’t netted one since game 1 against Boston. The team managed only *16* shots, getting outshot by 12 for the game. The Sabres lost two thirds of their faceoffs, and gave the puck away 15 times to Montreal’s 7.
And yet, watching the game, I never once thought that Buffalo would lose. They scored an early goal after Lane Hutson tripped and gave the puck away, and honestly, they never looked back. Benson fed Doan for that first goal, and then Benson found McLeod on the power play (after Doan did excellent work in front of the net to gain possession) for the second tally. Montreal got one late in the first to make it interesting on a great pass across the crease on the man advantage to Nick Suzuki, but the second period went much the same as the first. Jordan Greenway scored, followed by Byram. Greenway in particular was all over the ice, hitting dudes and making plays.
Buffalo didn’t have their best, especially from the top two lines, but it didn’t matter. The Canadiens can clean up their game tomorrow night, and they’ll have to if they don’t want to be down two games to none when they get home.3
He pissed you off all game, and he’ll fucking do it again.
There’s a tendency with Buffalo sports to wait for the other shoe to drop. No matter how the last game went, how the last series went, there’s always a little spot in the back of your mind wondering how it all goes wrong. You wait for the first goal, or that easy Josh Allen TD, to relax. The Sabres delivered tonight in spectacular fashion, scoring *four* goals in the first en route to a 6-1 obliteration of the Boston Bruins. Less than five minutes in, Fraser Minten gives the puck away on the half-wall, and Alex Tuch serves up a sweet pass to Peyton Krebs for the first goal. That set the tone for the first period, where Boston seemed completely unprepared for the pace of play as the Sabres skated around and through Boston. Josh Doan added the second goal on a sweet redirect of a McLeod pass. Two minutes later, Doan steals the puck in the Bruins zone and delivers it to Zach Benson who drives the neat and sneaks it in from beneath Swayman’s pads. The last goal of the first comes on a D to D pass from Owen Power to Bowen Byram, where Swayman’s pads get caught on one of his own players in front of the net, which stopped him from getting across for the play.
Whew, that was a lot! The second period saw Boston wake up and realize the game was at 2pm, but they were unable to get anything past Alex Lyon. This is the time that little spot in the back of your mind makes itself known again. We’ve already had a wild comeback in this series, you know?
But there was no comeback to be had tonight, as Beck Malenstyn tips a Jordan Greenway shot into the net to get to 5-0. This is followed about 90 seconds later by a Thompson feed to Alex Tuch at the front of the net, and it was 6-0. Swayman would be taken out shortly after this, most likely to get him some rest after the abuse his defense allowed him to take. Seriously, none of this was his fault, and you can see him letting his team know here:
Sean Kuraly would break the shutout up with less than a minute to go to get to our final, 6-1. The last notable even was a wicked cross-check/sucker punch combo away from the play by Nikita Zadorov on Rasmus Dahlin:
Lindy Ruff stated after the game that he understands where the emotion comes from (as a man who once flying tackled a goalie who hit him in the face, he should) but to me, this shows me that the Bruins aren’t nearly as tough as they claimed to be. Marco Sturm called his team bigger, stronger, and more physical, and maybe they are, but their mental toughness is in question. The Bruins had no answer for what the Sabres did on the ice tonight, and ended up resorting to cheap shots and message-sending late. It didn’t come off as tough, it read as pathetic. You can contrast it directly with the Game 2 loss from the Sabres. Down 4-0, goalie chased, they clawed their way back with two late goals to make it respectable. At the exact same point in this game, Nikita Zadorov broke his stick over Dahlin.
Game 5 is Tuesday at 7:30 back here in Buffalo. If the Bruins want to show how tough they are, they’ll have to take 2 on the road.
The Islanders score a late goal to pull within one after giving up an empty-netter, but don’t have enough to beat the Sabres in regulation. Buffalo gets goals from Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs (pictured) and a 198 footer from Bowen Byram into the empty net. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made some dynamite saves, and one of the Islander goals came on a bad angle shot that went in off of Owen Power.
One worrying injury as Sam Carrick left the game after a fight with Anders Lee. Carrick was thrown down to the ice and immediately clutched his arm/shoulder. He was stepping up to get some payback on Lee after the Islander knocked Norris into the boards, but may have paid the price. Hopefully he’s okay, and Buffalo does have the depth if he’s out for a bit.
It wasn’t 100% back to form but I felt like this was a much better game from the Sabres. They were right on the Isles forwards in the defensive zone and were constant pests on the forecheck. They didn’t make a *ton* of mistakes playing the puck, which was the issue during the losses they had recently. Even when it was tied, I never thought they’d lose.
One. Hundred. Points. Hell yeah. Buffalo’s back in action Thursday night in Ottawa taking on the Senators.
