The Buffalo Sabres may have struggled against the Carolina Hurricanes early, but they ended the season series on a high note.
The Carolina Hurricanes have been a thorn in the side of the Buffalo Sabres for a while. Obviously, every Sabres fan has a grudge against the Hurricanes because of 2006, but for some whatever reason, the Blue and Gold could not solve Carolina.
On the next edition of “How They Fared“, we take a look at the three meetings between these two teams. After having a great start to the season, this was the Sabres first real test of the young campaign. In their second game of November, Buffalo headed to Raleigh for their first meeting.
It started out well for Buffalo as Jacob Bryson would open the scoring 28 seconds into the game. A couple of minutes after the Hurricanes tied it up, the Sabres would regain the lead thanks to Victor Olofsson. Unfortunately, it would not last long as Carolina would even the score once again.
After that, it was all Hurricanes and they would score three unanswered goals in what would be a 5-3 win for Carolina. This would be the start of the Sabres longest losing streak of the season.
The next time Buffalo would see the Hurricanes, it was the final game for the Sabres before the All-Star break and their bye week. Buffalo was playing some good hockey at the time and were one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Once again, they had another chance to beat one of the best teams in the league.
Coming into the game, the Hurricanes were 33-9-8, so Buffalo definitely had their hands full. Well unfortunately for the Sabres, they would lose the game 5-1. The Hurricanes were up 3-0 at one point and it was just a rough game all around for Buffalo.
Buffalo Sabres eventually turned around their fortunes vs. Carolina
The final meeting would take place at the most important part of the season. It occurred in Buffalo and this game was crucial for both teams. The Sabres were fighting for a wild card spot and the Hurricanes were looking to help their chances to win the Metropolitan Division.
Exactly four minutes into the game, Casey Mittelstadt would give Buffalo the 1-0 lead. After the first period, it would be 2-1 Carolina as the Hurricanes would score two goals in 22 seconds. A few minutes into the second period, Rasmus Dahlin would even up the game on the power play.
Carolina would regain the lead once again. But Mittelstadt scored his second of the game thanks to an amazing pass from Dahlin with just a couple of minutes remaining in the second period.
Tage Thompson would what turned out to be the game winning goal in third period as the Sabres would stay alive in the playoff race and defeated Carolina 4-3. It was a hard fought win and Buffalo was FINALLY able to take down the Hurricanes.
(Historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)