Jason Pominville honored as the Buffalo Sabres annihilate Ottawa

The Buffalo Sabres put on an offensive clinic this afternoon and crushed the Ottawa Senators 9-2 after a ceremony honoring Jason Pominville and his 1000 games played in the NHL.

So many storylines from this today’s game against the Ottawa Senators in which the Buffalo Sabres remained undefeated in afternoon games by blowing out the Senators 9-2.

I promise I will do my best to not make jokes about the Sabres scoring more than the Bills or using puns like Steven Hauschka having 3 field goals but today’s scoring output was pretty impressive. The 9 goals are the most goals scored in 1 game for the Sabres since October 2006.

After a tough loss to the Senators in the first half of a home and home series, the Sabres bounced back with a huge performance on the day that Jason Pominville was honored for playing in 1000 NHL games (1001 games after today).

Pominville has been absolutely red hot and he put up 3 more points this afternoon. Pominville now has points in 7 straight games (his longest streak since March 2014), including 2 more goals today. We might be through only 14 games, but Jason Pominville is on pace for 82 points which would be a career high.

Head coach Phil Housley re-energized the offense when he moved Jeff Skinner and Jason Pominville to the top line with Jack Eichel. Pominville’s current point streak started when the change was made and the line has combined for 38 points.

Speaking of Skinner, he continues to be the offensive leader for the Sabres. With 2 goals today, Skinne now has 9 goals on the season (8 goals at even strength) and he has moved into top 10 in the league. Although he is provides very little on the defensive front, Jeff Skinner is the offensive threat the Sabres were hoping for.

With the win, the Buffalo Sabres remained in the mix of things in the highly competitive Atlantic Division and are still holding on to one of the wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Virtually every Sabre got into the mix today with 8 different Sabres having a multi-point game. Zemgus Girgensons scored his first goal of the season, Sam Reinhart recorded 2 more assists, and Conor Sheary snapped his 8 game goalless streak.

The only negative from today’s game was the injury to defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin was injured when blocking a shot by Matt Duchene but according to Phil Housley ,Dahlin will be travelling with the team for the next game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers tomorrow.

The Buffalo Sabres have now scored 21 goals in Linus Ullmark‘s 4 starts and Ullmark improved his record to 3-0-1. Strangely enough, Linus Ullmark has started all 4 Saturday games this season. Please note that the Sabres next Saturday game is next weekend as they host the Vancouver Canucks. Oh, and it is another afternoon game. Hopefully the Sabres can continue to score as much as the Bills. Sorry, I tried.