Score: Sabres 2 | Hurricanes 6
Shots: BUF 34 | CAR 29
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Henri Jokiharju (1), Zemgus Girgensons (5)
Carolina Hurricanes Goals: Teuvo Teravainen (5, 6), Martin Necas (5), Ian Cole (1), Vincent Trocheck (5), Nino Niederreiter (5)
Plus 1: Thompson able to finish the game after taking a rough hit against the boards.
Tage Thompson was driving into the offensive zone when he took a hard hit against the boards by Vincent Trocheck. After the hit, Jeff Skinner took exception and stuck up for his teammate.
Thompson remained down on the ice as a trainer tended to him. The result of the hit was a 5 minute major and game misconduct. Thompson missed the rest of the second period, but was able to return to start the third.
Minus 1: Yet another short-handed goal scored against.
A lot of fans will be quick to put the blame on Dahlin for this one. He deserves his share of the fault, however no other teammates were in the vicinity of the play to help out Dahlin and their goalie.
Minus 2: Yet another game with 5+ goals scored on the Sabres.
The search continues for a stabilizing presence in net after Craig Anderson went down with an injury and Dustin Tokarski’s play has dropped significantly. Malcolm Subban played his first game in a Sabres sweater and allowed 6 goals on 25 shots before leaving the game with what looked to be a lower body injury.
Final Thoughts
The Buffalo Sabres continue to slide down the standings with yet another regulation loss. From start to finish the Hurricanes looked like the superior team.
Fun fact – 5 different players scored their fifth goal of the season during this game.
Speed is key – It was apparent that the Sabres could not keep up with the pace of play that the Hurricanes threw at them in waves. Looking down the Sabres current roster there are very few players I would consider to be fast in a straight line. Everyone wants to add size to the Sabres line-up, but that should not mean the team sacrifices skating ability. A player like Alex Tuch will be a welcome addition in bringing both size and speed to a team badly in need of both.
It was very difficult to find many positives from this game. My hope is the Sabres can quickly put this one behind them and start to turn things around.
Next up: the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.