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Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars: March 10

By Melissa Kania

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In three games last week, the Buffalo Sabres were outscored 12-3, outshot 117-71, and ultimately lost all three games against Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Washington.

The week began on Tuesday, as the Buffalo Sabres visited the Tampa Bay Lightning. Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan and Victor Hedman all scored for Tampa Bay, while Buffalo was held scoreless and went 0-for-2 on the power play.

The Sabres then traveled to Ottawa to take on the Senators Friday. An early 2-0 lead in the first period would prove fruitless for the Buffalo Sabres, as Erik Karlsson, Mika Zibanejad and Mark Stone scored a trio of unanswered goals to give the Sens a 3-2 win.

Finally, the Buffalo Sabres visited the Washington Capitals on Saturday for a 6-1 loss. Alexander Ovechkin scored for the Caps, while Curtis Glencross, Jay Beagle, Brooks Laich, Joel Ward and Marcus Johansson also added goals for Washington.

Despite the trio of losses, there were a handful of players who stepped up – and stood out – for the Buffalo Sabres over the course of the past week, so here they are: your weekly three stars.

1. Anders Lindback

When looking at the past week, you absolutely have to give a star to Buffalo Sabres netminder Anders Lindback. He played his first game in nearly a month with Tuesday’s bout against the Lightning, and despite getting absolutely peppered with shots over the week, he did what he could to keep the team in it.

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Lindback appeared in all three games this week. He stopped 86 of 94 shots faced throughout the course of the week and played 144:09 through the trio of games, including 26:07 on Saturday after replacing Matt Hackett in net.

Lindback stopped 32 of 35 shots against the Lightning, 34 of 37 shots against the Senators and 20 of 22 shots against the Capitals. He was also the only consistent goaltender the Sabres had last week, as he played with three different netminders over the week: Chad Johnson, who was then injured in practice; Andrey Makarov, who was sent back to the AHL; and Matt Hackett.

2. Zach Bogosian

Zach Bogosian continued to be a hard worker for the Buffalo Sabres in the past week. Bogosian played big minutes every night, including 25+ minutes in two of three games.

Overall, he had two assists and four penalty minutes in three games. He played 72:30 total over the course of the week and had 10 shots on goal, including seven in Tuesday’s game against the Lightning. He also had nine attempts blocked, two missed shots, eight hits and two blocked shots.

Bogosian will be one of the key pieces moving forward for the Buffalo Sabres. He’ll continue to play big minutes and really contribute in a number of ways to the team.

3. Marcus Foligno

One area where Marcus Foligno was really noticed over the past week: hits. He had 11 hits in three games, including six against the Ottawa Senators. He also registered one assist and had five penalty minutes in last week’s games.

Overall, Foligno played 16+ minutes in each game last week, including 18:34 in Thursday’s game against Ottawa. He had two shots on goal in the game against Tampa Bay and also registered three blocked shots and one takeaway.

So there you have it: your Buffalo Sabres weekly three stars.

Looking ahead, the Sabres have a light week coming up. They’ll visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday before returning home from a lengthy road trip to host the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Next: Buffalo Sabres Free Agency

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