The Buffalo Sabres did not look like the same, struggling team against the St. Louis Blues despite the two-goal loss.
If you watched the Buffalo Sabres last night, you saw a team that looked drastically different from the one that suffered back-to-back blowouts against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens. No, the Sabres didn’t win, but at least they gave the Blues all they could handle for two periods.
Long story short, the Sabres tied the game following a Tage Thompson goal with 7:26 remaining. The Blues retook command shortly thereafter, and tacked on an empty netter to put the game away, 5-3. But the Sabres showed growth. They didn’t look like that tired team whose (lack of) defense made life tough for goaltender Dustin Tokarski.
Buffalo Sabres turned a corner against St. Louis
The team finally got their act together with puck aggression, logging 38 shots on goal and outshooting the Blues in two of three periods, while tying them for 11 SoG in the second. They were also aggressive, logging 16 takeaways compared to the Blues’ seven.
If the Sabres improve a little more with winning face-offs (49% against St. Louis), and continue to take care of the puck – just six giveaways last night compared to 21 in a SINGLE PERIOD to Montreal, they will pull off a few upsets in what is going to be a gauntlet of a month in March.
To be fair, the Sabres were forced to make last-minute adjustments when Victor Olofsson and Kyle Okposo went down with non-COVID illnesses before the Montreal game. This forced head coach Don Granato to break up his top trio of Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Jeff Skinner to help compensate for inexperience on the lower lines.
Sure, there were mistakes, and it ultimately cost the Sabres. Their penalty kill and power play units struggled, finishing 1 for 3 and 1 for 5, respectively. The Sabres have had a hard time with both units all season. They also saw one too many rebounds, allowing the Blues to capitalize toward the end of the second period.
The Sabres have an opportunity to build on their improved performance on Sunday with a matinee against the Dallas Stars. The teams face-off at 2:00 pm, EST.