While the Buffalo Sabres have a shootout win in the books this season, they have yet to win a game in the overtime period, with overtime losses already this season. They were able to change that on Saturday night as they scored in overtime to cap off a remarkable comeback.
The Sabres put together a much better performance in the extra period, and it was due in large part to a lineup change that Lindy Ruff decided to make last minute.
"We haven't been very successful with two forwards so just thought go with [Rasmus Dahlin] second and last minute I decided to put him with [Mattias Samuelsson] and put [Tage Thompson] out there," Ruff said after the game.
The decision paid off as Tage Thompson had an incredible individual effort where he was able to steal the puck in the offensive zone and found Mattias Samuelsson in the slot for the game-winning goal.
It is a move that makes sense for the Sabres, as the story for almost every overtime prior to this game was the Sabres would get an odd-man rush and not capitalize. The other team would get the puck and the Sabres couldn't recover going the other way to stop their chance.
Buffalo Sabres should make this overtime line permanent but apply the thinking to other lines as well
By having two defensemen out there, it would, in theory, limit those chances going the other way. The Sabres didn't end up needing that as they converted their chance, but it is something that makes a lot of sense to continue using moving forward.
After the game, Ruff talked about the fact that they have some defensemen who can really skate, as he named Bo Byram alongside Rasmus Dahlin as two examples. This is an advantage the Sabres can use and should keep these lines moving forward.
By putting Byram out there with another defenseman and one forward, like Alex Tuch, it should still give them offensive opportunities but minimize chances going the other way.
The Buffalo Sabres find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and if they hope to get back into playoff contention, they need to make sure that when they get to overtime, they are coming away with two points. This is a line that has shown they can certainly do that, and the Sabres need to stick with.