Well folks, the impossible has happened – the Buffalo Sabres have won three games in a row, and are on pace to win the President’s trophy or something after their 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
If you simply look at the stats, last night’s game looks much like most others this season. The Sabres were outshot 44-26 and were saved by another strong effort from Jhonas Enroth. They lost the faceoff battle, the special teams battle, and the player who spent the most time on the ice for them by a good two minutes was Tyson Strachan. But that, of course, is why they play the games.
Matt Moulson opened the scoring for Buffalo in the first period (the period where the team had just four shots) and Torrey Mitchell scored the game winner in the third – coincidentally, these two players led the team in shots with four each, proving the longstanding hockey theory that if you shoot you can sometimes score goals. The Sabres MVP, however, was once again the goaltender. Jhonas Enroth made 44 saves and earned the first star, standing strong in the second period when Washington poured 20 shots on net.
With the win, the Sabres are now tied with Edmonton and Columbus for last place, and will host Winnipeg at home in their annual Thanksgiving Eve game this Wednesday.
Three Questions
1. Can the Sabres figure out how to stop either of Washington’s excellent special tams units?
The good news for Buffalo is they only took one penalty all game – the bad news is that Washington scored on that lone power play. With the score ending up the way it did, we should be glad that one penalty was the only penalty.
2. Will the Sabres offensive explosion continue after taking three days off and having their game on Friday rescheduled?
Two goals can sometimes be considered an offensive explosion for this team, but with the Sabres only mustering 26 shots, I’m gonna go ahead and chalk this one up to the fact that every team is going to win three in a row at some point. If they keep getting outshot almost 2-1, I don’t think the tank crowd will have much to worry about.
3. Will the Sabres do the impossible and win three straight?
Yes!
Comment of the Game
Ted Nolan is driving the tank over Niagara Falls
Look out below!