Robin Lehner Leads Buffalo Sabres Weekly Three Stars

Lehner stellar against Blue Jackets

The Buffalo Sabres played three games over the course of six days in the last week, ending on February 21. The week included a pair of games on the road and culminated with a home Sunday matinee tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Hockey Day in America.

The week began on Tuesday as the Buffalo Sabres visited the Ottawa Senators.

Matt Moulson scored a much-needed goal in his slumping season, while Ryan Dzingel notched his first NHL goal just 1:09 later to tie the game for Ottawa.

At the end of the day, the teams took things to a shootout, where the Buffalo Sabres fell. Both Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris scored in the shootout, with Jack Eichel and Moulson failing to score for Buffalo. The Sens pulled off a 2-1 win.

The Buffalo Sabres returned to action on Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

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This would turn out to be exactly the kind of game the Buffalo Sabres needed to get back on track as they pulled off a 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets.

Jamie McGinn had a pair of goals, while David Legwand scored one of the weirdest goals we’ve seen all season; Sam Reinhart also added his team-leading 18th goal of the season in the third.

Finally, the Buffalo Sabres closed out the week at home on Sunday by hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Though the Buffalo Sabres fought to the end, they couldn’t top the Pens and fell 4-3.

Zach Bogosian had a pair of goals, while Brian Gionta also scored for Buffalo. Patric Hornqvist, Scott Wilson, Phil Kessel and Matt Cullen tallied for Pittsburgh.

With that being said, who were the top performers for this week for the Buffalo Sabres?

3. Eichel

Jack Eichel registered three assists this week, including one against Ottawa and two in the win over Columbus. He finished the week a plus-2.

Eichel played over 21 minutes in two of three games this week, including a flat-out 22 minutes against the Sens.

He also registered four shots on goal, two each against Ottawa and Collumbus, and had two blocked shots, one missed shot and one take-away.

Eichel had some respectable numbers in the faceoff dot, going 39%, 33% and 44% in each of the games, respectively.

2. It’s A Tie: Bogosian / McGinn

Okay, I’ve never done this before but I think I have to give both Bogosian and Jamie McGinn third-star honors for the week.

Bogosian had a pair of goals and an assist in the Pittsburgh game, a valiant effort in the loss.

He played over 21 minutes every night, including 23:07 against Ottawa, and tallied eight total shots on goal, five blocked shots, three hits and two missed shots.

McGinn, meanwhile, had a pair of goals in the win over Columbus. He had nine shots in the three games combined and finished the week a plus-1.

Both of them deserve it, and I just couldn’t decide, so there you have it!

1. Lehner

How can I give first-star honors to ANYONE but Robin Lehner this week? He absolutely deserves it.

Lehner appeared in all three games this week for the Buffalo Sabres. Overall, he stopped 90 of 95 shots faced, including a 38-save shutout on Friday.

That was Lehner’s first shutout with the Buffalo Sabres and just the third of his career.

And of course, how can we forget this…..

Overall, honestly, Lehner worked hard this week.

Though two of the games ended in losses, they were both close – just one-goal games, including one shootout loss – and it’s certainly led some to wonder: just where would the Buffalo Sabres be right now if Lehner had been healthy and on-point all season?

Next: Sabres Fans Need to Be Louder

This week, the Buffalo Sabres hit the road for their western swing that sees them visit the Ducks on Wednesday, the Sharks on Friday and the Kings on Saturday. All three games are late starts (10:30 PM EST for the first two, 11 PM EST for the last), so get some shut-eye and get ready for the week ahead!

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