One major takeaway from the Buffalo Sabres Canadian road trip
The Buffalo Sabres road trip will conclude on Monday against the Seattle Kraken. But their Canadian road trip bore one common denominator.
The Buffalo Sabres have faced adversity in each game played during their jaunt west, as it always seemed as though there was one period where the opponent just absolutely blew them out. Not necessarily in the score, but in the way they played during a respective period.
Against the Edmonton Oilers, it was the third period where they outmuscled and outshot Buffalo by a ridiculous 23-5. It was a night where Eric Comrie saved 46 shots on goal, including 22 in that period. The Sabres definitely bent, even if they didn’t break.
Buffalo Sabres must keep conquering adversity
We saw a repeat of this against the Calgary Flames, who outshot the Sabres 17-6 in the third. And the same thing occurred last night vs. the Vancouver Canucks. And while Vancouver only outshot the Sabres 10-7, Buffalo once again had a flat period where they were forced to rely on sound goaltending during a 20-minute sting where the Canucks shut them out.
Another common denominator? In each instance above, the Sabres bent, but they did not break, and that is a testament to the team’s evolution. This time last season, Edmonton and Calgary are winning those hockey games, while the contest against Vancouver would be a toss-up.
This road trip has once again shown growth in the Sabres, who have outscored opponents 15-6, an average of 5-2 per game with Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin leading the way. There were times opponents outplayed the Sabres, but they refused to give in, and gave teams like the Oilers and Flames just enough to ensure the W.
The Sabres showed further growth in the fact that, although the Canucks outplayed them in the second period last night, they played the better game in the first period and dominated their expansion brethren in the third, securing their third straight win of a four-game road trip.
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The trip west concludes south of the Canadian border on Tuesday when Buffalo faces the Seattle Kraken. Hopefully, they bring their brooms to this one.