4 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres unexpected win over the Carolina Hurricanes

The Buffalo Sabres had one of their best performances of the season on Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. However, the challenge for this team is to string these top performances together.

It wasn't going to be easy on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who entered this game leading the Eastern Conference with 30 points. It didn't seem to matter for the Sabres as they rose to the occasion and put together an incredible performance en route to a 4-1 win.

These are some of the top takeaways from that game.

Buffalo Sabres are a different team when they score early and play with the lead

This isn't really much of a surprise, as every NHL team always wants the lead, but for the Sabres, the difference is magnified. They would score first in this game against the Hurricanes on a power play goal by Alex Tuch, and the score really should have been 2-0, but a goal by Jacob Bryson was waved off on a questionable goalie interference call.

After the goal was waved off, the Hurricanes would tie it up later in the first period, but Buffalo added two goals in the second to pull away from Carolina. At this point, they were able to play their game and control the flow for most of the third period.

This is now the eighth game of the season, and they have scored first and improved their record to 6-1-1. However, it is clear they struggle scoring early, as it was only the eighth game out of 22 played this season that they have scored first. It is something they need to continue to do to remain competitive this season.

Beck Malenstyn with a highlight reel goal

It took Beck Malenstyn 18 games before he scored his first goal of the season, but it only took three for him to add his second. The goal he had against the Hurricanes was a beautiful play and came at a pivotal point for the Sabres.

At the time, it was a one-goal game after Jack Quinn gave Buffalo the lead earlier in the period. In the closing minutes of the second period, Tyson Kozak was able to win the battle for the puck along the boards and made a great pass to Malenstyn, who had one defender to beat before he ripped a shot past Frederik Andersen.

With the return of Jason Zucker and Zach Benson in the last two games and Josh Norris potentially on the horizon, there are a number of players fighting for their spot in the lineup. Malenstyn is making a great case for himself to remain in the lineup once everyone is back and healthy.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with his best game of the season

The Buffalo Sabres had some questions entering this game of who would be in the net as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played against the Chicago Blackhawks, and Colten Ellis had played the prior three games. It seemed like Alex Lyon could be the logical choice, as he hasn't seen the ice since being pulled against the Colorado Avalanche back on November 13th.

It would end up being Luukkonen who would get the start and reward Lindy Ruff with the confidence he had in him against the highest-scoring team in the NHL currently. Luukkonen finished the game stopping 28 of 29 shots and allowing only one goal, which was the first time he has allowed two or fewer goals in a game since January 9th of last season.

Fans have to wonder how long they will go with three goalies on the roster, and for the team, it might have gotten even more complicated. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was a distant third in performance compared to Colten Ellis and Alex Lyon prior to these past two games.

However, the rotation seems to be shifting and Luukkonen has earned himself more games moving forward.

Tage Thompson extends his goal streak to six games

When the Buffalo Sabres were struggling, they needed more from their leaders, and that included Tage Thompson. He has seemingly taken that as a challenge and has been playing some of his best hockey and extended his goal streak to six games on Sunday with the empty net goal at the end of the game.

There is no question that this Buffalo Sabres team needs Thompson to deliver on a nightly basis and the team is more successful when he does. During this current goal streak, the Sabres are 4-2 with wins now over Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton and Detroit.