The Buffalo Sabres once again faced adversity, rose up, and gave the Queen City a small break in tonight’s win over Washington.
The last 24 hours were some of the longest if you are a sports fan. Words can’t put into context the way the City of Buffalo and the sports world felt following Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s injury on Monday Night Football.
It hit home for millions, and it was a tragedy that occurred not even two weeks after the city suffered through a once-in-a-generation storm that forced the NHL to postpone two Sabres games. The Sabres still came out last week, however, and won after a 10-day layoff.
Then tonight, with the sports world’s minds rightfully still on Hamlin’s condition, the Sabres once again rose to the challenge and provided a beacon of light in an otherwise dark time. After tonight, I’m going on record to say this: There is no challenge too big for this team, for the City of Buffalo, or Buffalo sports.
Buffalo Sabres upset the Capitals in an emotional affair
Once again, it was the Tage Thompson show. Tage, who wasn’t thrilled with his performance on Sunday, netted his third hat trick of the season that included the game-winning goal. The win bumped the Sabres into fourth place in the Atlantic Division and just four points outside the wild card.
Alex Tuch and Tyson Jost also found twine, with Tuch’s goal opening the scoring while Jost tied the game midway through the third period with Casey Mittelstadt and Owen Power providing the helpers.
But once again, the real story tonight was how the Sabres, once again, came on strong for their city. And how they were able to rise to the challenge on the road against one of the NHL’s better teams.
Overall, it was an emotional affair, and it was hard to focus on the game itself. In the end, the Sabres skated away with the W. Now, it’s onto Minnesota to kick off a homestand.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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