Robin Lehner Leads Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars
The Buffalo Sabres lost two of three games this week as they rounded out the month of February and rounded out a Western road trip.
The Buffalo Sabres opened the week with a 1-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.
Sami Vatanen had the lone goal of the night, a power-play tally early in the second period.
Robin Lehner had 28 saves in the loss.
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The Buffalo Sabres rebounded with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks later in the week.
After going down 1-0 on a goal by Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Johan Larsson tied things up for Buffalo in the second period.
Zach Bogosian notched his fourth goal of the season to put Buffalo up 2-1, with Evander Kane tallying an empty-netter to seal the victory.
Chad Johnson had 24 saves in the win.
The Buffalo Sabres then finished out their California road trip with a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
Tanner Pearson had both goals for the Kings, and Lehner had 33 saves.
With that being said, here are the top three performers for the Buffalo Sabres over the course of the past week:
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3. Bogosian
Zach Bogosian played 23:03 against the Ducks, registering one shot, one hits and two blocked shots. He spent 4:08 on the power play and 2:43 shorthanded.
He went on to put up a goal and an assist against the Sharks in the win, ending the night asa team-best plus-3. (Jake McCabe also registered a plus-3).
Finally, he registered two shots on goal and one hit in the loss to the Kings. Bogosian skated over 22 minutes each of the three games and continues to be a solid presence on the blueline for the Buffalo Sabres this season.
2. Gionta
Though Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta has been having a rough season, he did a few things well this week.
Gionta had a team-high seven shots in the loss to the Anaheim Ducks, responsible for more than a quarter of the Sabres’ 26 shots on goal.
He also registered one hit and went 50% in the face-off dot.
Gionta went on to register one assist in the win over San Jose, finishing the game a plus-2. He also had two shots on goal, two hits and two blocked shots.
He registered one shot in the loss to Los Angeles but otherwise was kept mostly off the board.
1. Lehner
Once again, I’m handing my first-star weekly hours to the Buffalo Sabres netminder.
Lerner appeared in two games this week for the Sabres, unfortunately both shutout losses. But he had 28 saves on 29 shots faced against the Anaheim Ducks, and 33 saves on 35 shots faced against the Kings.
Lehner had been a hard worker this season, and it’s difficult not to wonder how different the Sabres’ season would have been if he had been healthy all season.
If nothing else, it’s an exciting thought to consider next season when he’ll hopefully be healthy all season long in the blue and gold.
Next: Lehner Rounding Into Form
This week, the Buffalo Sabres return home but continue to face Western Conference teams. Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers come to town on Tuesday, with the Calgary Flames facing Buffalo on Thursday. The Sabres close out the week with a Saturday afternoon tilt against Minnesota on Saturday.