Through his first five games, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Devon Levi had his rookie moments, but it was a different story in tonight’s win.
Well, it took 14 games, but the Buffalo Sabres finally have a winning record, as they now stand at 7-6-1 thanks to a tremendous effort by goaltender Devon Levi. It seemed as though the Blue and Gold were allowing one too many chances in tonight’s big win vs. the Minnesota Wild, but Levi stopped everything except for two power play goals. And you can argue both goals weren’t on him.
Several times, we saw Levi weave his way through traffic, especially when there was chaos ensuing, which seemed to happen every time the Wild charged into the Sabres zone. Levi showed an edge throughout the contest, and he was a huge reason Buffalo only allowed two goals in a game when they would have allowed at least five a year ago.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender can now build on this big win
Overall, Levi saved all 19 shots on goal at even strength, two while the Sabres were on the power play, and he also went 10 for 12 while the Blue and Gold were on the penalty kill. Often a strength to their game, the PK unit has cooled off, and they hung Levi out multiple times tonight, but the rookie’s stellar play held the Wild to just two goals while the Sabres did just enough in their own end to squeak out the W.
Henri Jokiharju kicked off the goal-scoring in the first period, and it’s getting safe to say his offensive game has dramatically picked up this season on the second pairing with Owen Power. Jeff Skinner scored the second goal on a breakaway with less than a minute to go in the second frame, while JJ Peterka continued his stellar season to cap off an epic sequence that also involved assists from Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner.
The Buffalo Sabres will have little time to celebrate this big win, as they head to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins tomorrow night. Can the Sabres string together two wins on the back-to-back? We will know the answer this time tomorrow night.
(Statistics provided by NHL.com)