The Buffalo Sabres get their third regulation home win on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers. Marcus Foligno scored his first two goals since March of last year and Jhonas Enroth gets his first win in over a year. Thomas Vanek scored the Sabres third goal and Andrej Sekera gets two assists.
Tortorella’s Thoughts On The Game
John Tortorella was none too pleased with the way the Rangers played after the game. “We sucked. And we sucked at a time that you can’t suck.” When asked about the Sabres, he had this to say, “I don’t think the Sabres are a hungry team. I thought we stunk and I’m not going to give Buffalo any credit.”
Enroth Finally Gets A Win
Jhonas Enroth hadn’t had a win in 13 starts heading into Tuesday night’s game. His last game against the New Jersey Devils showed some promise, but he was pulled when he came down with severe cramps. Against the Rangers, Enroth finished with 32 saves and his first win since November 26, 2011.
For Enroth, the start couldn’t have gone any better. “I felt very confident and controlled every shot and didn’t give up any bad rebounds and stuff like that. It was pretty much a perfect game for me.’
Sabres Power Play Woes
The Buffalo Sabres came into this game as the league’s worst power play. They also were tied for the most shorthanded goals given up with five. Those stats didn’t get much better as the Sabres were on the power play four separate times in the second period alone and couldn’t convert on all five of their chances in the game. What’s even worse is that they gave up another shorthanded goal to Derek Stepan. The Sabres were outshot 3-2 on their own power play as well.
Thomas Vanek played a total of 6:10 on the power play and had this to say about how to fix the power play after the game. “I think, once we got setup we generated a few good chances. For us, we struggle on the faceoffs and the breakouts so once we figure that out I think we will be alright.”
Marcus Foligno’s play
Marcus Foligno came into Tuesday’s game with two points his last 11 games and was even a healthy scratch in that game. His last goal he scored was on January 27th against the Washington Capitals. All of that came to an end though in the second period as Foligno tucked the puck just inside the right post for his second goal of the year. To add some icing on the cake, Foligno added a second in the third period. This is the first time Foligno has had a two goal game since March 19, 2012.
Foligno’s final stat line was 15:41 of ice time with two goals, four shots, and three hits.
The Sabres will face off again on Saturday at home against the Ottawa Senators.