Buffalo’s Power Play Explodes!
Score: Buffalo Sabres 8-4 Ottawa Senators
Shots: BUF 27-36 OTT
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Quinn 1st (Byram, Dahlin) McLeod 1st (Benson, Power) Tuch 1st (Bryson, Doan) Zucker 2nd (Dahlin, Benson) Zucker 3rd (Doan, Thompson) McLeod 2nd (Tuch, Doan) Quinn 2nd (Krebs) Kulich 1st (Thompson, Benson)
Ottawa Senators Goals: Stützle 1st (Zetterlund, Spence) Sanderson 1st (Greig, Cozens) Pinto 5th (Spence, Sanderson) Eller 1st ( Cousins, Spence)
Last season the Buffalo Sabres swept the playoff bound Senators. For some reason, they had Ottawa’s number. That trend continued Wednesday night at Keybank Center.
Plus 1: First Lead, First Goal on the Power Play
Ottawa came out and controlled most of the first 7 minutes, outshooting the Sabres 3-0. (sound familiar?) Then Zetterlund for the Sens took a holding penalty (against Rasmus Dahlin) in the offensive zone, giving Buffalo the man advantage. Now hold on to yourself, people. Bust my buttons and call me Shirley! A power play goal! It certainly wasn’t drawn up like that but Jack Quinn scored his 1st of the year on a weird ricochet. His shot went high and wide but bounced off the glass and floated down in front of the net. The puck then bounced off the back of Sens’ goalie Leevi Merilainen and into the net. It wasn’t a thing of beauty but with Buffalo’s offensive adversity right now, you take that all day.
The Sabres then killed off two Ottawa power plays, with a few nice saves from Alex Lyon. (Ryan Johnson interference, Jacob Bryson delay of game) Buffalo found a little life suddenly, buzzing around and getting a few looks. Alex Tuch came a whisker away from giving Buffalo a 2-0 lead as his shot rang off the post. That would have been HUGE. But the Sens would answer to tie it up as Tim Stützle tipped a long range shot into the Buffalo goal for his 1st. It almost seemed fitting, with Ottawa contolling the flow of the game. They outshot the Sabres in the period 8-3. The Sabres had no shots on goal at even strength, getting all 3 on that power play. Not a good look for Lindy Ruff’s team.
Plus 2: WTF was That!
The penalty problems continued in the 2nd period for the Sabres, as Bo Byram got called for tripping. This time Ottawa cashed in. Jake Sanderson poked in a loose puck as Lyon went to cover, it just crossed the line as Lyon tried to squeeze his skates to keep it out. The play went to review but was upheld. The Sabres had a chance at goalie interference, with Lyon taking a shot to the head moments before. Not to be, from Toronto. Delay of game penalty for the Sabres. It got really bad when Tuch took a slashing call soon after and Ottawa was peppering the Buffalo goal 5 on 3. Shots were 18-4 at this point.
Then a Sabres’ miracle happened right before our eyes. The Hockey Gods must have gone to the bathroom or something. In a wild series of events, the Sabres scored short handed with Ryan McLeod getting his 1st. The puck was mishandled by Merilainen and he was caught out of the net twice, the 2nd buried by McLeod. The Sabres killed off the rest of the power plays and not long after, Tuch gathered a rebound and gave the Sabres the lead again. It was a killer swing on the Senators, Buffalo survived and thrived after it looked like this was Ottawa’s game for the taking.
At this point, I’m convinced the kindly ghost of RJ himself was blocking the stall doors shut on the Hockey Gods. Now, it was the Sens that got in penalty trouble and the Sabres cashed in TWICE more on the power play! THREE man advantage goals in the same game. Yes, I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley. (changed my mind about that) Jason Zucker scored on back to back power plays and suddenly the Sabres were leading 5-2. An amazing turnaround after this game was not going their way at all.
Plus 3: Near Disaster, Strong Recovery
The Hockey Gods finally made it back to start the third period as the Sabres gave up a quick one. Shane Pinto got his 5th of the season. Soon after, Lyon misplayed a chip pass to his defenseman and the puck wound up right in front and in the net again. Suddenly, it’s a one goal game. Soooooo Sabres. Lindy Ruff called a timeout and I guess it…worked? Play resumed and Ryan McLeod let a wicked shot go on the rush that beat the Ottawa goalie again for his 2nd of the night. Then Jack Quinn scored two himself to give the Sabres the 3-goal lead back. It was a sweet deek in close that really showed the skills he has. A sigh of relief could be heard in all of Sabreland. The game went back and forth after that until the Sens pulled the goalie early. Jiri Kulich would eventually score an empty netter to seal the deal.
The Sabres pick up their first victory of the season in a crazy, uneven contest that could have gone either way at points. The fans in attendance and watching at home got a real treat. Several players got that damn monkey off their backs tonight. Quinn, Zucker and McLeod each had two goals and Benson and Doan combined for six assists.
Final Thoughts:
The Sabres and their fans needed this badly. What a turnaround in a game that was heading downhill bigtime. This looked like a Don Granato coached game from three years ago. You could feel the jump in the team and in the stands.
Welcome back Zach Benson, who chipped in on three of the goals. You’re energy was missed, Taz, great game. And how about Josh Doan? He also made his mark, picking up his first three points with Buffalo, all helpers.
Jason Zucker is Buffalo’s PP savior. They are still bad even with him on the team, but they would be HORRID without him. He led the Sabres in man advantage goals last year and he is now on his way to repeating that feat.
The Sabres will next host the champs, as the Florida Panthers come to town on Saturday, October 18th at 1pm.