Buffalo Sabres finally start showing some fight in loss to Red Wings

The Buffalo Sabres once again couldn’t look any worse through most of the game’s first 40 minutes vs. the Red Wings. Then, things changed.

Losing is never good, no matter how you try to spin it, but if you’re the Buffalo Sabres, you needed to do something, anything, to create and build on momentum for Thursday night’s matchup against the Boston Bruins. So when the Detroit Red Wings had complete control of the game, the Blue and Gold finally showed some life on a power play goal courtesy of Rasmus Dahlin with assists from Dylan Cozens and the returning Tage Thompson.

But whatever, they scored one measly goal and at least showed us their power play could be effective. The first half of the third period was rather quiet, and it looked as though the Red Wings were cruising toward a 4-1 win, but Casey Mittelstadt had other ideas on an incredible snapshot at the 8:20 mark.

And if that wasn’t enough, Jeff Skinner scored just three over three minutes later on yet another power play goal. No, the Sabres couldn’t fully complete the comeback, and they gave up an empty-netter late to lose 5-3. However, you can’t help but at least praise this team for showing fight in this one.

Buffalo Sabres must bring the same fight into Thursday night’s matchup

The Sabres showed us multiple times this season what they can do when they play the way they did during the last 21 minutes of tonight’s contest. No, it didn’t result in a win, but it should have at least warranted a momentum shift.

If they show that same kind of fight for an entire 60 minutes this Thursday, there is no doubt they will beat the Bruins. Undermanned or not, the Blue and Gold can hang with any team they want with the edge they displayed. It was the same edge that led them to a major upset win last Monday against the New York Rangers; they just need to get consistent in showing it.

As the Buffalo Sabres get healthier, expect what you saw in the final 20 minutes of tonight’s contest to become more of the norm. But it doesn’t mean they can’t get a solid head start in just under 48 hours.

(Statistics provided by NHL.com)