The Preds Become the Prey, Just Barely
Score: Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Nashville Predators
Shots: BUF 32-34 NASH
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Ostlund 8th (Hellenius Dahlin) Ostlund 9th (Hellenius Power) Hellenius 1st (Krebs) Thompson 26th (Tuch Doan) Krebs 5th (Samuelsson)
Nashville Predators: O’Reilly 17th (Forsberg Skjei) Forsberg 19th (O’Reilly) O’Reilly 18th (Evangelista Forsberg)
Plus 1: Konsta as the Northern Star
Goaltender Alex Lyon returned from injury for the Sabres and his calm and cool presence in the net was certainly missed. Buffalo had the early shots advantage which was nice to see after too many five and three shot periods lately. Jordan Greenway had a good backhand chance and Jack Quinn ripped off a good shot. But the Sabres got on the board first courtesy of Noah Ostlund. The former Amerk (and possible permanent Sabre) skated in and collected some loose change out front after a shot by Dahlin with good traffic around the net. Noah wasn’t done though. Less than four minutes later, Ostlund collected his 2nd of the period after the puck deflected up and hit him. Noah knocked it down to the ice and swooshed it into the net like a pro. Konsta Hellenius picked up the primary assists on both goals, his first points in the National Hockey League.
The Sabres rookie had even more to showcase. Hellboy picked up his third point of the period and first NHL goal not long after. His wicked wrist shot from the slot beat Nashville goalie Juuse Saros clean to give Buffalo the 3-0 lead. Incredibly, Hellenius scored or assisted on a goal three shifts in a row. He was a little quiet in his first game but exploded in the 1st period of this one. Both Ostlund and Hellenius look to be perpetual players for this team moving forward.
Minus 1: Boom Goes the Dynamite (for both teams)
Tage Thompson exercised some of his frustration out on the Preds to start the 2nd period. After getting stoned repeatedly against Carolina, TNT scored a sweet goal, his 26th of the season to give Buffalo the 4-0 lead. Alex Tuch and Josh Doan picked up the assists. The vets finally joined in on the fun after the young guns carried them to start the game. Nashville would make a goalie change at this point.
After a failed Sabres’ power play, some player named Ryan O’Reilly would get the Preds on the board to make it 4-1. Nashville had an extra attacker on the ice with a delayed penalty being called. Buffalo didn’t let it phase them, going right back to work getting chances. But another quick goal by the Preds started to make this a game again, with Filip Forsberg getting his 19th of the season. THIS one did phase them.
Nashville shifted their play into another gear, getting relentless pressure on Buffalo several shifts in a row. (Maybe use your time out, Lindy? Momentum is a real thing) Wave after wave of Predator pressure and the Sabres couldn’t clear the puck to save their life. Lyon made several strong saves and Nashville shot a few good chances wide. This went on for an eternity and the team just couldn’t settle down. As a Sabres’ fan, you just wanted this period to end. Thankfully it did with no further damage, though the Preds got a late power play with Greenway going off for holding.
Plus 2: Hold it Together
Buffalo killed the penalty to start the period and the ice wasn’t as tilted after that. But Nashville was still getting good offensive zone time, and the Preds took the lead in shots on goal. Buffalo came back with mostly perimeter chances, nothing like the high danger opportunities they had in abundance early in the game.
Things really got hairy as that same O’Reilly guy got in alone and roofed the puck on Lyon to make it 4-3. Buffalo was just hanging on at this point as they really lost their mojo.
Somehow the Sabres kept it together, keeping Nashville off the board the rest of the way. The empty net specialist Peyton Krebs iced it for Buffalo after the Preds pulled the goalie. Number 19 hit a long range shot from his own blue line to make it 5-3, as Buffalo escapes with the win. The Blue and Gold dominated to make it a 4-0 score but losing focus and facing adversity is something they still need to work on. Take the 2 points and run.
Final Thoughts:
More signs of a young team. They are growing up as a cohesive unit but the inexperience and bad habits still creep in time to time. Buffalo barely hung on and nearly blew this game. Nashville had the crowd and all the momentum for about 30 minutes straight. (30 minutes game time) The Sabres did lose something valuable though, forward Beck Malenstyn. The defensive hero blocked a shot late (like always) and had to be helped off the ice. He could not put any weight on it, we can only hope for the best but it didn’t look good.
Josh Doan picked up his 20th assist of the season tonight. I don’t think many had that on their bingo card at this point of the season.
The Sabres next game is a big one. Buffalo faces the Habs in Montreal on Thursday, Jan 22nd at 7pm.