Buffalo Sabres Sam Reinhart Leads Weekly Three Stars
The Buffalo Sabres had a busy week, playing four games in six nights between Tuesday, February 9 and Sunday, February 14.
In the end, the Buffalo Sabres started off the week poorly with two losses, but ended it strong with consecutive wins on home ice at First Niagara Center.
The Buffalo Sabres opened the week with a 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday at home.
Sam Reinhart scored twice in the loss, with Evander Kane and Mike Weber adding goals, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Panthers. Florida goals came from Reilly Smith (2), Brian Campbell, Jussi Jokinen, Alex Petrovich, Brandon Pirri and Jaromir Jagr.
Robin Lehner allowed four goals on 12 shots, with Chad Johnson stopping 20 of 22 faced in Tuesday night’s game.
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The Buffalo Sabres returned to action on Thursday night, falling to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 at Wells Fargo Center.
Despite outshooting Philly by a margin of 42-28, the Sabres couldn’t put up the offense to match that of the Flyers.
R.J. Umberger, Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl and Nick Cousins all scored for the Flyers, while Jamie McGinn notched his 12th goal of the season and the lone goal of the night for the Sabres.
The Buffalo Sabres then came back to defeat the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche in a pair of home games on Friday and Sunday.
David Legwand, Kane (2), Josh Gorges and Marcus Foligno (2) all scored for Buffalo in the 6-4 win over the Habs, while Johnson had 26 saves.
Jack Eichel, Kane, Reinhart and Foligno all scored in the 4-1 win over the Avs, with Robin Lehner making 34 saves.
Who were the top performers?
3. JACK EICHEL
Eichel registered a goal, two assists and 12 shots – including seven against the Flyers – over the course of the week.
If for no other reason, Eichel deserves third star based on Sunday’s goal alone. What a move.
To be fair, there are points where the Buffalo Sabres rookie can improve his game. He had a team-high four giveaways in the win over the Canadiens and two in the Flyers game the night prior to that – obvious a little less than ideal.
2. RYAN O’REILLY
O’Reilly had a pair of assists in the loss to the Panthers, kicking off a decent week for the Buffalo Sabres forward.
He’d add a pair of assists in the win over Montreal, then another pair in the win over his former team, Colorado.
O’Reilly was also a plus-3 in the win over Colorado, tied with Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen for the team-best plus/minus that afternoon.
1. SAM REINHART
Reinhart had two goals, both coming on the power-play, in the early-week loss to the Panthers, also potting three shots that night.
He added two more shots in the loss to the Flyers and three in the win over the Habs.
Reinhart also scored in the win over the Avalanche, potting his 17th goal of the season. Could Reinhart and Eichel both hit the 20-goal mark this season for the Buffalo Sabres?
Next: Justin Bailey Impresses in Debut
Coming up this week, the Buffalo Sabres have a lighter load on their plates. They’ll visit Ottawa on Tuesday night, then take on Columbus at Nationwide Arena on Friday. The Buffalo Sabres return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday for an NBC-televised matchup.