Yet again, the Buffalo Sabres were outmatched by a superior opponent, but somehow managed to steal a win thanks to a red hot goaltender….a goaltender who was one of the worst in the NHL before being traded to Buffalo and who hadn’t won a single game since January 13th.
Anders Lindback was traded out of Dallas in exchange for Jhonas Enroth because he was so bad that he simply had to be expunged from their organization. With the Stars this season, Lindback had a .875 save percentage and was allowing over 3.7 goals per game. Since he’s come to Buffalo, Lindback’s save percentage is over .930 which for some reason just makes me think of this. Tonight, he stopped 40 of Boston’s 41 shots, including seven in overtime, to help the Sabres to the 2-1 victory.
Buffalo was outshot by a 45-24 margin, and somehow Boston’s only goal came on a flukey bounce off a defenseman’s skate and the boards. The Sabres lone goal also came via flukey bounce, thanks to a power play wrist shot from Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been playing some unbelievable hockey the past few nights. I can’t wait to watch this guy next year, but it would be sad if the team he was on didn’t include Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel.
That won’t happen if the Sabres continue to play so well, earning three of their last four points. Anders Lindback made a season high 44 saves, including every Boston shootout attempt to earn his first win in two months. The Sabres outskated Boston in the third period after turtling like crazy for the first two, and they beat a fresher team while on the second leg of their own back-to-back. It was, to say the least, unexpected.
But here we are, now three points behind Arizona and Edmonton, and each team has 12 games to go. Fasten your seatbelts, Sabres fans, it’s apparently going to be a bumpy ride to the finish.