The Buffalo Sabres are now undefeated at home with fans in the arena. In a season that has been filled with negatives, this is a nice little fun stat that the team can hang their hat on for the time being. The next game that there will be fans in Buffalo is April 9th against the Capitals.
Going into last night’s game, Buffalo had not come back to win a game that they were trailing at the start of the third period. As they entered the third period down 2-1 to the New York Rangers yesterday, it looked like the Sabres would drop their first game with fans in Buffalo. But the Sabres had other ideas.
Victor Olofsson tied up the game at two apiece at the 16:19 mark of the third period. Linus Ullmark had another great game and had some incredible saves late in the game to help the Sabres force overtime.
Overtime was fairly uneventful. There were only five shots on goal total, three for the Sabres and two for the Rangers. And although shootouts are not everyone’s favorite way to end a game, Buffalo has thrived in shootouts so far this season, especially with Ullmark in net.
Linus showed us all once again why he is the clear number one goalie in Buffalo as he stopped all three shots in the shootout. Tage Thompson’s goal in the second round proved to be the game-winner.
Ullmark has shown time and time again that he can be a viable NHL starter, especially when the team around him is playing well. Linus made 28 saves on 30 shots in last night’s contest. It looks like the Sabres will be very active with the trade deadline approaching fast, but Ullmark is someone that they absolutely need to keep in Buffalo.
Buffalo has a few days between today and their next game. The Sabres do not play again until Tuesday, April 6th against the New Jersey Devils.