Despite the loss on Saturday night, the Buffalo Sabres showed they could exert strong defensive play vs. the New York Rangers.
The Buffalo Sabres suffered yet another loss, this time vs. a strong New York Rangers team. But at least there was some upside here, despite the Blue and Gold dropping their fourth straight.
For one, they walked away with a point. For another, they played 60 minutes of solid hockey, something we haven’t seen from Buffalo for an eternity, it seems. Yeah, they only scored one goal, and if you didn’t watch the game last night, that one goal may indicate Buffalo struggled again offensively.
But that wasn’t the case. They had so many good looks that vs. most NHL goaltenders, they’d have won this game at least 3-1. But when facing an elite netminder, you have to play strong defense, and fortunately, the Sabres did just that.
Buffalo Sabres must bring defensive edge into next week’s slate
With only a few weeks left in the regular season, a month, really, the Sabres playoff chances hang by a few threads from a shoestring. But they can at least improve over the final three weeks, especially defensively.
And against New York, it seemed that for 60 minutes, no matter what the Rangers tried, the Sabres stifled them. And when New York got something going, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who enjoyed one of his best performance s of the season, was there to put on a clinic.
This is the type of defensive play the Sabres must bring into next week’s slate of games. I’d love to see them get physical with the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of those teams that has bullied them this season. And perhaps that physicality will snap the streak against their biggest rival?
Then it’s onto the Washington Capitals and finally, the Philadelphia Flyers to complete the road trip. All three games are winnable. And with Alex Tuch still on injured reserve as I write this, parlaying this strong defensive play is even more important.
Source: Observations: Sabres ‘buckle down’ defensively, fall to Rangers in overtime by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com