The Buffalo Sabres could have earned two points vs. a team that has nothing to play but the spoiler card. And they skated away with a measly point.
It was a game where the Buffalo Sabres outplayed the Montreal Canadiens heading into the third frame. It was also a game where Lukas Rousek made his NHL debut and put up two points, including his first NHL goal within the game’s first five minutes. And it was a game where Eric Comrie once again put up a solid performance, saving 38 of 41 shot attempts, with a 0.927 save percentage.
Henri Jokiharju delivered two big hits while Riley Stillman channeled his inner-Tage Thompson for his first goal as a Sabre. But at the end of the night, the Blue and Gold lost in a shootout (again).
Sure, they made it interesting, and you can even argue that Buffalo came within a bad puck drop away from winning, as Comrie stopped Jesse Ylonen’s initial shot. But when the puck hit the ice, it took a bad bounce forward, saving the Habs, who eventually pulled off the two-point W.
Sickening loss for the Buffalo Sabres puts them on a slippery slope
With two big wins on Friday and Saturday, the Sabres found themselves six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins with 10 games to spare. Pittsburgh hits the ice again tomorrow against the ailing Detroit Red Wings; a probable win for the Pens, spelling even more doom for the Sabres. If Detroit wins, Buffalo will remain just five points behind Pittsburgh.
But man, there’s still no taking away how important these points are. That’s now the second time this month when the Sabres outplayed their opponents and should have skated away with the win, with their heartbreaking loss to the Washington Capitals on March 15th being the first.
If Buffalo wins both games, they have 79 points, and are only three behind Pittsburgh with nine games remaining. And in a worst-case scenario, they would be five points back. At the present moment, that’s a best-case scenario.
So now, their looming back-to-back against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers just became that much more important. We shall see if Buffalo rises to the challenge, or if they will continue to fall down this slippery slope.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)