Buffalo Sabres: Thoughts on Sabres Thrilling Game #4 Victory

What a game it was between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens!

That was the type of game you love to see out of your young team. A back and forth, hard fought game with one of the better teams in the league. If the Sabres can continue to win games like this, the rest of the league will be left no option but to take notice, as they should.

Let’s talk about the game. Coming right out of the gate, rookie sensation Victor Olofsson scored a solid slap shot off of a nice pass from Jack Eichel on the power play.

The Sabres have been so lethal this year on the power play. Considering you have prolific scorers like Eichel, Olofsson and Jeff Skinner on the ice together, it doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.

As the first period went on, it was pretty equally contested. Both teams were able to get the puck into each other’s territory and get good shots. Buffalo out shot Montreal 12-10 in the first.

Unfortunately, the Achilles heel for Buffalo this season has been closing out periods. To end the first Buffalo allowed 2 quick goals from Montreal to put them ahead.

This is something Buffalo needs to clean up. We have seen them lose their intensity at both the end of periods and the beginning. The good news is everything in between has been pretty darn good.

The second period was the period of Captain Jack. Eichel and the lethal power play came out early in the period and were able to put in a goal to tie the game.

The angle on that shot is ridiculous, I don’t think there are many other players in the league who could make a shot of that difficulty.

As the second went on Buffalo, started to look dominant. The Sabres out shot the Canadiens 15-9 in the second period.

Late in the second period, Eichel found the back of the net again. This time Eichel navigated his way through a group Canadian defenders and slapped home an improbable shot to give the Sabres the lead.

At the start of the third, Jeff Skinner came out immediately and tapped one in 47 seconds in.

Skinner is off to an impressive start this year scoring goals in his last 3 consecutive games. The Sabres resigning Skinner is looking like a great move early on.

Unfortunately, the Sabres and Carter Hutton fell apart as the fourth went on, allowing two goals by Montreal to tie the game up.

The game went to overtime for the second game in a row. However, in overtime the Sabres came out aggressive and Eichel found Marcus Johansson open for the game winning score.

The Sabres were able to put up another impressive early season victory. Ralph Krueger’s offense looked as good as ever, and the stars played very well.

This was another promising result for Buffalo and Sabres fans should continue to be excited.