Say what you will about Buffalo Sabres Victor Olofsson, but he just joined a club that includes Rick Martin and Pat LaFontaine.
Whether you like the way he got there or not, Victor Olofsson recorded his ninth goal in 11 contests, and he is just the seventh player in Buffalo Sabres history to accomplish the feat. Only Rick Martin, Pat LaFontaine, Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Thomas Vanek, and Danny Gare scored nine in the first 11 before Olofsson, putting him in a club so rare even the likes of Gilbert Perreault and other high-profile scorers could never join.
Some fans will without a doubt put an asterisk beside Olofsson’s name, stating he scored three empty netters and subsequent fourth goal scored in the last three minutes of the Vancouver game a minute after Zemgus Girgensons scored the EN. But there is also that game-winning power play goal against Chicago, and the game-tying goal against Pittsburgh.
He also put the Sabres on the board first in last week’s win over the Blackahawks, so it’s not like he was just capitalizing on scoring during ideal situations. Further, it’s also not like Olofsson’s high-scoring output is anything new.
Olofsson deserves to have his name beside some Buffalo Sabres greats
From mid-February until April 29th, Olofsson scored 15 of his 20 goals last season, which gives him 24 over roughly his previous three months (mid-February, March, April, mid-October to early November). Power play specialist? Sure. Taking advantage of a few empty-netters? Clearly.
But it won’t matter to most outside of a few haters whose voices hold little water anyway. Olofsson more than deserves to have his name mentioned beside the likes of Martin, LaFontaine, and the other greats mentioned above. A few empty-netters or not, nine goals in 11 contests is beyond impressive.
Now the challenge for Olofsson is: Can he keep it up? I believe he will, as his goal-scoring drought occurred last season following his return from a wrist injury during a time where the Sabres were regularly employing taxi squads to deal with their rash of injuries. This season, so far, has seen a healthier Sabres team.
Article Source: Observations: Sabres’ three-game winning streak wiped out as Sebastian Aho hat trick sparks Hurricanes by Mike Harrington
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