Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars: Ristolainen, O’Reilly, McGinn

Over the course of the past week, the Buffalo Sabres played three games, two on the road and one at home. They began the week with a pair of games out in Western Canada, part of a three-game roadstand that saw the team face Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary before returning home to the 716.

First up this week was a match with the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. The effort by the Buffalo Sabres fell flat as the team dropped a 5-2 decision to the Canucks. Brian Gionta and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres, but Radim Vrbata‘s hat trick helped power the Canucks to their victory.

A few short days later, on Thursday, the Buffalo Sabres traveled to Calgary to face the Flames. It was a much closer game, but the end result was the same: another L for the Sabres.

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The highlight of that game: defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen‘s first career NHL hat trick. Sadly, the team effort wasn’t quite strong enough overall and the Sabres once again pulled out a loss.

Following the Western road trip, the Buffalo Sabres returned home to host an impressive Los Angeles Kings team on Saturday.

The Kings were on a six-game winning streak, which they saw snapped as the Buffalo Sabres pulled off a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Jamie McGinn and Ryan O’Reilly.

There were definitely some high points for the Buffalo Sabres over the last week; here are my three stars.

3. Jamie McGinn

Jamie McGinn had a solid week for the Buffalo Sabres.

He had an assist in the 5-2 loss to the Canucks, also tallying two shots and two hits that night. Though he was held off the scoresheet in the Flames game, McGinn then had a goal in the win over Los Angeles.

Overall, he finished the week with two points (1-1) and a plus-1 in three games.

He also registered a total of eight shots and had four hits. Overall, he played a total of 43:34 ice time, including over 15 minutes in each of the last two games of the week.

Overall, McGinn is now tied for third in scoring (14 points) on the Buffalo Sabres, with six goals and eight assists in 30 games this season.

2. Ryan O’Reilly

Ryan O’Reilly continues to be one of the most offensive forwards the Buffalo Sabres have on their roster this season.

He registered points in each of the three games this week, including a goal against the Kings.

He also had a pair of assists in the loss to Calgary, and one assist in the loss to Vancouver.

He finished the week with five points (1-4) and eight shots on goal; he also registered two hits and four blocked shots.

Overall, he went 56% in the faceoff dot and played a total of 65:35, including over 23 minutes in the game against the Flames.

O’Reilly currently leads the Buffalo Sabres with 27 points (10-17) in 30 games this season, leading the team in points, goals and assists.  Nearly half (13 of 27) of his points this season have come on the power-play.

1. Rasmus Ristolainen

How can I not give first-star honors to Risto this week? He deserves it after his first career hat trick alone, not even considering everything else he did over the course of the week.

Obviously his three-goal night against Calgary was the highlight of this week; his first NHL hat trick is a monumental moment, not to mention the history he set doing it as a defenseman.

He added an assist in Saturday’s win over the Kings, and finished the week with four points (3-1) and 10 shots on goal – more than either of the two aforementioned forwards. He also recorded four hits – all in the Kings game – and five blocks.

Of course, Ristolainen has been a leader throughout this season and has also been eating a significant amount of ice time. This week, he played 77:11 total, including 27:30 in the game against Los Angeles.

He also continues to be penalty-free this season, another honorable achievement.

Ristolainen is more than deserving of this week’s first star.

Next: O'Reilly Making A Name for Himself in Buffalo

This week will be a heavier-loaded one for the Buffalo Sabres, who face four games in six nights. They’ll visit the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, then return home to play the rest of the week at First Niagara Center.

The New Jersey Devils come to town on Tuesday to finish off the back-to-back set for Buffalo; the Ducks come in on Thursday, then the Hawks on Saturday.

Saturday’s game will be the last for the Buffalo Sabres before a week off; they’ll return to action on the 26th against Boston.