Chad Johnson Leads Buffalo Sabres Weekly Stars
As the Buffalo Sabres season comes closer to its end, we present our second-to-last weekly three stars!
This past week was a busy one for the Buffalo Sabres, who played four games between Monday, March 28 and Saturday, April 2.
The Sabres kicked off the week by visiting the Detroit Red Wings.
The Sabres made a last-ditch effort at a comeback with under three minutes to play, but couldn’t finish it off.
They were down 3-0 when Zemgus Girgensons and Sam Reinhart scored within 1:01 of each other to make it a 3-2 game, but ultimately fell.
More from Sabre Noise
- 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects
The Buffalo Sabres followed that up with a 5-4 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Matt Moulson, Ryan O’Reilly, Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian scored for Buffalo in the wild game.
The Sabres scored three in the opening frame, but Pittsburgh responded with four of their own goals in the second period.
Buffalo added one in the third to tie it, but ultimately, the Pens had the edge in the shootout and grabbed the extra point.
A few days later, the Buffalo Sabres returned home to host the Maple Leafs, topping them 4-1.
Cal O’Reilly scored twice, with Johan Larsson adding a pair of his own.
Finally, the Sabres closed out the week with a visit to the New York Rangers.
This time it was Ryan O’Reilly’s turn to score twice, with Girgensons adding another. Matt Moulson also scored in the win.
With that, here’s who I’ve picked as the Buffalo Sabres weekly three stars:
3. Zemgus Girgensons
Surprised? Don’t worry, I am as well.
Girgensons has been, well, not great most of the season. But this past week, although an incredibly small sample size, was solid for him.
He had two goals in four games this week.
Here’s an incredible stat that came out during Saturday’s game re: his productivity against the Rangers:
Zemgus Girgensons vs. the Rangers at MSG this season: three goals in two games. Zemgus the rest of the year: four goals in 66 games. #Sabres
— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) April 3, 2016
2. The O’Reilly Brothers
This week, I’m going to give a shared second star to both of the O’Reilly brothers.
Combined, the two had five goals and four assists over the course of the week; Cal played three games, Ryan four.
Combined, they also had fifteen shots on goal.
The duo also set Buffalo Sabres history on March 31.
They became the first brothers in Buffalo Sabres franchise history to connect for a goal, as Ryan assisted on Cal’s goal.
Make history, I’ll give you a star.
1. Chad Johnson
Ocho Cinco! How can you *not* give Buffalo Sabres netminder Chad Johnson a star?
Johnson has had to step up YET AGAIN with Lehner out with injury – and now shut down for the season – and he’s certainly filled his role.
Johnson played in all four games over the course of the last week.
He had 26 saves on 28 shots faced against the Red Wings, then stopped 42 of 46 against the Penguins.
The Buffalo Sabres netminder also stopped 25 of 26 shots faced against the Leafs, then 33 of 36 faced against the Rangers.
Next: Sabres Hot & Cold In March
Johnson really could be a great piece of the Buffalo Sabres’ roster next season.