Sabres late comeback shows resilience we haven’t seen

Can Buffalo Sabres fans get excited over just one preseason victory? Absolutely. Seeing Buffalo come back from down three goals late, regardless of this being a preseason game, is something everyone should be happy to see. Obviously the sample size is incredibly small, but Don Granato seems to be the right guy for the task of rebuilding the Sabres.

If you did not get the chance to tune in online last night to catch the game, the Sabres found themselves in a 4-1 hole going into the third period. So it was giving off very similar vibes to many games that we saw during last year’s regular season. But instead of rolling over and taking the loss, Don Granato rallied the players, and after a goal early in the third by Micahel Mersch to cut the deficit to two, JJ Peterka and Linus Wissbach both added goals with the goalie pulled late in the period.

After no one scored in a five-minute overtime period, Jack Quinn scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the shootout and Dustin Tokarski stopped every shot he saw to secure the win for Buffalo.

“In perspective, it is the preseason, it’s not regular season NHL level by any means,” Granato said after the game. “but it’s like when you go play in the backyard against your friends, you want to win. We have to have that approach any night.”

The Sabres know that they are not the most talented team in the league, not by a long shot. But they have the makings of being a very gritty team. Granato has proven that he can make this team at least watchable after what we saw after he took over last season. And it seems that he has the trust of the players and they have bought into his coaching style.