3 major things the Buffalo Sabres got right against Tampa

The Buffalo Sabres went into Tampa and stunned the Lightning in a 6-5 thriller that put them one step closer to a wild card slot. 

The Buffalo Sabres pulled off the improbable last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning in perhaps the most improbable fashion. Ilya Lyubushkin picked a perfect time to score his first goal of the season, and a Tage Thompson hat track, his fourth of the year, helped fuel the Sabres to pull off a major upset on the road (though there were plenty of hometown fans invading the place).

But how did they end up winning this thing, preventing what so many in hockey circles believed was a surefire Lightning win? There were three things the Sabres got right that they would do well to carry on to tonight’s contest vs. the Florida Panthers.

1 – Physicality

The Buffalo Sabres aren’t known as a physical team, as it’s not their style of play. But last night they laid hit after hit after hit, 42 total, matching that of the Lightning. It’s an edge the Blue and Gold need to keep in their game not only tonight, but moving forward.

They played with far more energy, unafraid to land crushing blows against what is one of the Eastern Conference’s best. The Sabres have a slew of naturally physical players on this team like Mattias Samuelsson, Peyton Krebs, and Rasmus Dahlin, so Don Granato may as well let them maintain that physical edge. It works.

2 – Capitalizing on special teams

The Buffalo Sabres eventually saw a blemish when they allowed a power play goal with just over five minutes to go in the third period. But other than that, they looked better on special teams than they had in a long time.

Halfway through the second frame, Tage Thompson scored on the man advantage with helpers coming from Rasmus Dahlin and Jeff Skinner. Dahlin displayed incredible defense against an odd-man-rush, taking control of the puck before he passed off to Skinner, who found Tage to set up the goal.

The Sabres found themselves on the PK three times. And while they allowed one goal in that stretch, they also did a much better job positioning-wise, getting themselves in front of the net and in better position to block a shot on goal.

3 – Forcing turnovers

The Lightning’s 11 giveaways jumped out, and it’s something to credit the Buffalo Sabres for. It seemed as though the Blue and Gold were playing on high alert all night, taking advantage of the Lightning’s offensive miscues, and by extension, preventing scoring chances from one of the league’s most high-octane teams.

While Buffalo could have done a better job taking care of the puck (they allowed 10 takeaways), putting pressure on and forcing forcing one of the NHL’s best groups into erratic situations will take them a long way if this continues tonight against Florida and beyond. It was a telltale sign of better defensive play they have been sorely lacking.

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