Jack Eichel Once Again Leads Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars
The Buffalo Sabres faced a shortened week of play this week due to the NHL All-Star Break. With just two games on the schedule, and both back-to-back, it was a tight ship this week.
The Buffalo Sabres didn’t start off the week on great footing, falling to the New York Rangers 6-3 on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Brian Gionta scored his sixth goal of the season, while Zemgus Girgensons had a pair of goals in his return from injury.
Unfortunately, the Rangers simply outpowered and outworked the Sabres, with Dylan McIlrath, Viktor Stalberg, Derick Brassard (2), J.T. Miller and Mats Zuccarello all scoring.
Chad Johnson had five goals allowed on 32 shots faced, while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 of 26.
The Buffalo Sabres returned to action less than 24 hours later in Ottawa, with Robin Lehner helping backstop the team to a 3-2 victory.
Evander Kane scored for the Sabres, with Jack Eichel adding a pair of goals.
Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan tallied for the Sens.
Robin Lehner, facing his former team, had 34 saves and an assist, while Craig Anderson had 19 saves for Ottawa.
So who were the weekly three stars?
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3. Zemgus Girgensons
I have to give this one to Zemgus.
The Buffalo Sabres just returned from injury, but made his return in a big way with a pair of goals on Monday night.
Although he didn’t record any points in Tuesday’s win, Girgensons had a solid week.
He finished the week a plus-2 with three shots and three hits.
For a guy who’s been struggling big-time this season in terms of production, that wasn’t a bad way to return from a few games missed.
Now it’s up to him to show what he can do with the rest of the season.
2. Robin Lehner
I’d be hard-pressed to find a guy who deserves this spot better than the Buffalo Sabres netminder.
He stepped in to face his former team on Tuesday, an especially daunting task considering how little he’s played this season.
But the Buffalo Sabres goaltender proved up to the challenge, stopping 34 of 36 shots faced in the win.
That included 22 shots faced in the third period alone.
This week also saw Lehner do something that doesn’t happen too often for goaltenders: he recorded an assist, notching a helper on Eichel’s power-play goal.
1. Jack Eichel
Once again, the Buffalo Sabres rookie earns first-star honors for this week.
Eichel notched two assists in Monday’s game against the Rangers, also recording two hits and one takeaway.
Interestingly enough, he didn’t record a shot on goal – only the third time this season that’s happened for the Buffalo Sabres rookie.
Eichel followed up his two-point performance on Monday with another two-pointer on Tuesday.
He scored twice in the Sabres’ 3-2 victory over the Senators, recording five shots on goal as well.
He played over 17 minutes in each of this week’s games and finished the week a plus-2.
Next: Five Buffalo Sabres Who Could Be On Trade Block
The Buffalo Sabres are now off until Wednesday, February 3 when they visit the Montreal Canadiens. It’s the first of another back-to-back set, as they’ll then host the Boston Bruins at home on Thursday. That game kicks off a home-and-home series with Boston, whom the Sabres visit on Saturday.