Buffalo Sabres make things interesting for first win in St. Louis since 2009
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres won their first game in St. Louis since December 2009, and they couldn’t have made things more interesting.
The Buffalo Sabres squandered yet another lead, their third in eight days as they let a two-goal lead to the Chicago Blackhawks slip last Tuesday, and another lead vs. the Anaheim Ducks dry up on Saturday. Tonight, the Sabres scored the first four goals of the contest, only to find themselves clinging to a 4-3 lead late until Dylan Cozens sank the game-winner on a short-handed empty-netter.
Any time you win, you can celebrate, but sooner or later, the Sabres have got to fix this. In two of the three goals Luukkonen allowed, I’m blaming lack of support defensively.
Ivan Barbashev placed his backhander just out of Luukkonen’s reach, but Owen Power was positioned well enough to get a stick in there. This led to the Blues first goal of the evening.
Then came Schenn’s goal, which resulted from a turnover and subsequent four-on-one sprint into the Sabres zone. Luukkonen never had a chance, and it was arguably Buffalo’s worst moment of the game defensively.
Buffalo Sabres improve to 25-19-3 after a thriller in St. Louis
I lost count on the number of breakaways the Sabres allowed during the latter stages of the game. Luukkonen was there to bail them out and save the Blue and Gold from completely letting what was a four-goal lead slip away. But sooner or later, your goaltender is going to have a bad game, and he can’t bail you out all the time.
Maybe they were just exhausted from the back to back? Exhaustion’s been one justification I’ve been hearing over the past week or so for the Sabres poor play as games have worn on. We’ll soon find out if that’s the case, as they have just three games to go before their nine-day All-Star break.
More. Don’t count Sabres out of the playoff race just yet. light
If the issue persists, then they need to do something to fix this leaky defense. It’s cost them games in the past, and it will catch up to them again.
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