In a season below expectations for Buffalo, one player that has risen to the challenge is right winger Alex Tuch. He currently has 59 points on the year. One more point will give him the second highest total of his career.
One overlooked aspect of his game and this season though has been his ability to score when the Sabres are shorthanded. He currently has 5 goals on the year when the other team is on the powerplay. That is currently tied for the league lead.
He is tied with the Florida Panther's Sam Reinhart and Caroline Hurricane's Seth Jarvis. Both teams are more than likely headed for the postseason.
For Tuch who had only three shorthanded goals in his career. He has surpassed that this season by two. His most recent one came in a 7-4 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.
In a microcosm of the Sabres season, Tuch cut the Flyers lead to 6-4 in the third period, but Philadelphia followed that up 29 seconds later to go up by three, 7-4. Throughout this year, despite any momentum that has been gained in certain points, Buffalo has lost it relatively quickly.
The Sabres have won two games that Tuch has scored while they are shorthanded.
Head coach Lindy Ruff commented on Buffalo's short game and the importance of Tuch's goals when Buffalo is on the defense. Ruff spoke with reporters following Buffalo's impressive 5-3 against the Winnipeg Jets on March 24th.
” You look at the desperation on the short-handed goal, yeah, those guys are all tired. But just the desperation; we had a blocked shot, diving to get it out of the zone — that’s the type of desperation that puts a smile on your face.”
Tuch's shorthanded goal against the Jets came on a breakaway putting them up 4-2 in the third period. It has been Tuch's ability to find the back of the net which has given Buffalo a spark throughout the entire season even if they didn't capitalize.
Despite their disappointment in not securing a postseason berth, building around Tuch will be important for next season. He is the kind of leader both on and off the ice that a young team could and should build around.
It would be exciting for Tuch to get one more shorthanded goal to the take the lead for the entire league. It has been a long season but putting the smile on the face of Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres fandom.