Rasmus Ristolainen Leads Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars

The Buffalo Sabres won two of three games last week, defeating both Minnesota and Washington. They fell to Boston in between, but overall, it was a strong week for the Buffalo Sabres.

The week began with the Sabres playing out the end of their road trip in Minnesota on Tuesday.

The Buffalo Sabres scored three times in the first period and held on for an eventual 3-2 victory over the Wild.

Jamie McGinn opened the scoring with his ninth of the season less than halfway through the first.

Rasmus Ristolainen added his eighth of the season later in the first, just twenty seconds before Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta made it a three-goal game.

The Sabres held onto that lead for a while before Ryan Suter broke the shutout with a shorthanded tally in the second period.

Former Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek added a late one – with under a minute to play in regulation – but the Sabres held on for the win.

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Linus Ullmark had 28 saves in the win, while Devan Dubnyk faced 23 shots.

Following that, the Sabres had a few days off before hosting Boston and Washington at home on Friday and Saturday.

David Legwand scored the lone goal for Buffalo, and Robin Lehner had 27 saves, as Buffalo fell 4-1 to the Bruins.

Matt Beleskey, Zdeno Chara, Ryan Spooner and Brett Connolly scored for Boston.

But have no fear – it was just a temporary blip on the Sabres’ record, as they rebounded the next night against the Capitals.

Philip Varone scored his first goal of the season after being called up from the AHL; Tim Schaller also scored his first of the season and just like that, the Sabres had a 2-0 lead in the first.

Evander Kane and Cody Franson would add goals in the second.

Marcus Johansson tallied one for the Capitals early in the third, but the Sabres held on for the 4-1 win.

Chad Johnson stopped 33 shots in the win, while the Caps goaltending was split.

Braden Holtby allowed three goals on 16 shots before being chased; Philipp Grubauer came in to allow one goal on 13 shots.

That being said, here are my Buffalo Sabres weekly three stars (for the week ending January 17th):

3. Philip Varone

I’ll understand the argument if anyone wants to challenge this, but I’m giving Varone the third star for the week.

Though he didn’t appear in the first two games, being called up prior to the Caps game, he’s earned it.

Varone appeared sharp in his first NHL game of the season, scoring his first of the season.

He played just 8:01 but spent time playing with both Jack Eichel and Jamie McGinn, a line we’d see more of in Monday’s win over the Coyotes (a game that isn’t included in this “week”).

Varone also registered one shot, one hit and two penalty minutes.

2. Evander Kane

Overall, Kane had three points in three games this past week.

He had an assist in the Minnesota game before tallying a goal against the Capitals. Kane finished the week as a plus-2.

He registered 13 shots, including five each against the Bruins and Capitals.

Kane also put up nine hits, three in each game, and had four takeaways.

He played over 21 minutes in each of the first two games and came just shy of 20 minutes against the Capitals.

That included over seven minutes on the power play, and nearly four minutes on the penalty kill.

1. Rasmus Ristolainen

Once again, Risto earns first-star honors for this week.

Ristolainen had two points (1-1) this week, including his goal against the Wild.

He also registered seven shots on goal, including four against the Capitals, and had six hits.

Ristolainen also had four blocks.

He played over 23 minutes each night, including 23:16 against the Wild; 25:40 against the Bruins and 27:27 against the Capitals.

Ristolainen’s week for the Buffalo Sabres included playing 12:17 on the power-play and 10:21 on the penalty kill.

Next: Five Sabres Who Could Be On Trade Block

Since this post is a day late, we’ve already seen one game for the Buffalo Sabres this week: their 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.

They now travel to Colorado to face the Avalanche on Wednesday night (10 pm) before returning home to host the Red Wings on Friday.