Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars: Feb. 23
Over the course of the past week, the Buffalo Sabres took four of a possible eight points as they faced four different opponents, including the top team in the National Hockey League. Three of the four games went to a shootout, with the Buffalo Sabres coming up victorious once.
The week began on Tuesday, as the Buffalo Sabres visited the New Jersey Devils. Tyler Ennis scored the lone Sabres goal – matched by NJ’s Patrik Elias, and the teams eventually went to a shootout. Matt Moulson and Ennis both missed for Buffalo, while Scott Gomez and Jacob Josefson sealed the win for the Devils.
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Two days later, the Sabres traveled to Philly to take on the Broad Street Bullies. It would be another shootout-night required. Brian Gionta and Nicolas Deslauriers scored in regulation for Buffalo, before Gionta and Brian Flynn tallied in the shootout to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 win.
The Buffalo Sabres returned to action the following night, hosting the New York Rangers in a rescheduled matchup. Moulson had the lone goal for Buffalo, while Mats Zuccarello, Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin all scored for New York, who won 3-1.
Finally, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the best team in the NHL Sunday as the Nashville Predators came to town.
Despite being largely outshot, the Sabres kept it a close game, with Nashville eventually taking the 2-1 shootout victory. Tyler Ennis had the lone goal in regulation and also scored a beauty of a goal in the shootout.
So who were the three best players this week for the Buffalo Sabres?
1. Michal Neuvirth
Michal Neuvirth was, without a doubt, the best player this week for the Buffalo Sabres. Neuvirth appeared in all four games this week, stopping 147 of 153 shots faced.
He made some incredible saves to keep the Buffalo Sabres in it. Even when the team went long periods of time without registering a shot on goal, and Neuvirth was getting peppered at the other end, he kept them in it. One of his best games of the week was actually the loss to the Rangers; even though Buffalo didn’t come out on top, Neuvirth had 40 saves.
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He carried the team this past week and is quickly making a case for himself to be the Buffalo Sabres’ starting goaltender for good. Either that, or he’s making a case for teams who may be watching him if he hits free agency this summer. Either way, he’s on fire.
2. Tyler Ennis
Ennis had two goals this week, including the lone goals in regulation against the Devils and Predators. He was overall a plus-2 this week and played over 19 minutes of ice time in each of the four games, including 22:08 against the Flyers.
This week, Ennis registered 14 shots on goal, including five against the Flyers. He also had four hits and an additional four missed shots, plus one takeaway and one blocked shot.
He also scored on two of three shootout attempts this week, including this beauty of a slapshot versus Nashville’s Carter Hutton.
3. Zemgus Girgensons
Zemgus Girgensons had himself a solid week as well for the Buffalo Sabres.
He didn’t score this week, but in four games, Girgensons had one assist and was a plus-2. He had over 22 minutes of ice time against the Devils and played 17+ minutes in each of the other three games.
Girgensons also registered 10 shots on goal and 12 hits, including seven alone in the game against Nashville.
He also won roughly 48 percent of his faceoffs overall this past week.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Overall, this past week was a busy one for the Buffalo Sabres, with four games in six nights. The upcoming week is not as crazy, with three games on tap. The Buffalo Sabres visit the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday before hosting the Vancouver Canucks (minus Ryan Miller) on Thursday. They’ll finish the month of February off with an afternoon game against the Panthers on Saturday.