The Buffalo Sabres continue to find a way to get the job done and stack wins as they beat the New York Rangers 5-2 on Thursday night. It is now their 12th win in 13 games, and they are tied with the Washington Capitals at 50 points for the final Wild Card spot.
Similar to the game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, the Sabres were able to build an early lead after Josh Doan opened the scoring and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. They would extend their lead to two in the second period after an Alex Tuch goal before the Rangers scored to cut the lead to one.
However, before the end of the period the Sabres would score again with Jason Zucker backing into a power play goal to give them a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission. The third period was fast-paced, and the Sabres struggled to keep up with the Rangers.
Momentum seemed to swing completely in the Rangers' favor after Peyton Krebs was called for a double minor for high-sticking. However, Mattias Samuelsson was able to score a short-handed goal to give the Sabres their third two-goal lead of the night, and it was exactly what they needed to secure the win.
Josh Doan extend his goal streak to four games
Josh Doan continues to build on his breakout season as he would score the first goal of the game off a beautiful assist from Mattias Samuelsson. The former Utah Mammoth has now scored a goal in four straight games and extended his goal total this season to 14, which is double his season total last year.
He entered this game tied with Alex Tuch for second on the Sabres in goals and for about 20 minutes of ice time he was in second by himself. However, Tuch would score in the second period to stay tied with Doan.
Recently, Josh Doan talked about his desire to remain with the Buffalo Sabres as he is set to be a restricted free agent after this season. The Sabres might not want to wait much longer on a contract extension because his price tag is only going up seemingly with every game.
Buffalo Sabres finally get a power play goal with a lucky bounce
The Buffalo Sabres' power play has been nonexistent for the past seven games, as the Sabres haven't scored a power-play goal since December 18th against the Philadelphia Flyers. One of the reasons for the struggles has been the absence of Jason Zucker, who was out with an injury, but is arguably one of their most important players on their power play.
That was clear against the New York Rangers as the Sabres finally got a power play goal that extended their lead to 3-1 in the second period. The goal was after Rasmus Dahlin took a hard shot from the blue line that Jonathan Quick couldn't control the rebound. After Quick stopped the shot, it would bounce off Zucker's back and over Quick for the goal.
There is certainly some luck involved with a goal like that, but it also shows how valuable Zucker is as he seemingly is always in the right spot in those high-danger areas. When teams have players like that, they find a way to get those "lucky" goals.
Bo Byram playing some of his best hockey of his career as a member of the Buffalo Sabres
Bo Byram got off to a slow start this season and left many fans wondering why they would re-sign him and not trade him. However, over the past few weeks, Byram has turned a corner and is playing some of the best hockey of his tenure with the Sabres.
On the season, Byram has 23 points, but has had 10 of those points in the past eight games, and he has developed quite the connection with Tuch in the past two games. He has been the primary assist on Tuch's past two goals and the one against the Rangers, he skated almost the entire length of the ice through the Rangers before setting up Tuch for the goal.
The Sabres continue to get great offensive production from their defensemen, and what is probably the most impressive about that is that Rasmus Dahlin hasn't been as productive. The production is coming from Byram and Mattias Samuelsson, who also had a goal and an assist against the Rangers.
Buffalo Sabres survive another hectic third period
After the Sabres saw the Canucks score three goals in the third period and make a game they were in control for the majority slip away, the Sabres once again found themselves in a hectic third period against the Rangers.
This was much closer than the game against the Canucks, but the Sabres were very much in control for most of the first two periods. However, the Rangers would score one minute into the third period to make it a one-goal game, and the Sabres never seemed to be able to keep up with the Rangers.
They somehow kept the puck out of the net after Vincent Trocheck's goal, even though the Rangers outshot them 14-3 in the final period. It got even more concerning after Peyton Krebs was called for a double minor, and the Rangers had the man-advantage for four of the final five minutes of the period.
However, the Sabres were able to put it away with a short-handed goal (second straight game with a short-handed goal) after Mattias Samuelsson had a great shot on a bad angle to extend it to 4-2. It wasn't easy, but the Sabres found a way to win, and these types of games should give them confidence as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.