Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars: Dec. 14
What a week for the Buffalo Sabres, who went 3-0 in games against the Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers. The past week saw the Buffalo Sabres shutout the Stanley Cup Champions, notch an overtime win against a conference opponent, and overall take all six possible points.
This week saw 13 different Buffalo Sabres players notch at least one point.
The 1-0 victory over the Kings on Tuesday was followed by a 4-3 defeat over the Flames on Thursday. Finally, the Panthers suffered a 4-3 loss via overtime to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
All three games this week were played at home for Buffalo at First Niagara Center.
With so many players putting up points in the past week, it was a challenge to pick just three players to highlight for this week’s three stars, but I’ve done my best — and here they are.
1. Tyler Ennis: The Buffalo Sabres forward had points in all three of this week’s games, putting up one goal and four assists through the week. He had the lone goal in the 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings and followed that up with a three-assist performance against the Flames.
Ennis also added one assist against the Panthers. Overall, he finished the week a plus-3 with 10 hits in 57:47 of ice time.
2. Matt Moulson: Moulson had points in two of this week’s three games, including an assist on Ennis’ goal in the Buffalo Sabres game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Overall, he had nine shots on goal through the week, along with three blocked shots and a pair of missed shots. Moulson had a pair of goals in Thursday’s game against the Flames, and overall, played 53:40 of ice time.
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3. Nikita Zadorov: Zadorov’s performance this week was generally on point. There was some debate as to whether or not he would be released to represent Russia in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships, but the Buffalo Sabres have elected not to release him – a good indicator of his recent play.
Though he wasn’t perfect this week, making an error that led to a goal in the Panthers game, he quickly made up for his mistake by scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. Zadorov also had to step up big time in the game against the Panthers, as he was one of only four defensemen remaining in the game for the Buffalo Sabres after injuries to both Josh Gorges and Andrej Meszaros
Overall, he played 62:16 in the three games, including a team-high 23:21 against the Panthers.
Coming into the week ahead, the Buffalo Sabres are now on a three-game winning streak.
Overall, they’ve lost just three games in the last month; since November 15, the Buffalo Sabres have won nine of the past twelve games.
The week ahead will be another tough one, as the Buffalo Sabres face four games this week, beginning with Monday’s matchup against the Ottawa Senators, a rescheduled game. They’ll then travel to Winnipeg for a bout against the Jets on Tuesday. After, it’s another pair of back-to-back games as the Colorado Avalanche come to town Saturday before the Sabres visit the Bruins on Sunday.