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Sabres at Coyotes recap: Meszaros is a man on a mission and destroyer of tanks, wills Sabres to 4-1 victory

Breathe in. Breathe out. Andrej Meszaros didn’t do enough to spoil our fun.

-Me, March 29, 2015 following the Colorado game

I guess you could say it was karma. I probably had it coming. But who would have thought?

Andrej Meszaros scored two goals, and the Sabres got late empty-netters from Brian Gionta and Rasmus Ristolainen to win (lose?) the second round of the infamous McEichel Bowl.

Connor Murphy scored just a minute into the game for Arizona, but the Sabres looked like the better team nearly the entire first period. They ended the first frame with a plus-13 Corsi, unheard of for this team, and likely only possible when playing the Coyotes. Cody Hodgson looked especially lethal, getting some serous opportunities on Mike Smith. In fact, Smith was likely the only reason the Coyotes were winning after one.

The Coyotes could never expect what they’d face next.

Tropical Storm Andrej was in full effect in the second period, as Meszaros scored two goals in a ten minute stretch. It’s the second game in a row that Meszaros has scored two goals, pushing his total to seven on the season. He had three goals in 52 games, and four in two. Try and explain that.

The Coyotes made a late push, and the Sabres helped their cause with some late penalties. But Anders Lindback had another strong outing. He made 28 saves in the victory.

Cue the overreactions.

Three Questions

1. Will Tyler Ennis play, and if he doesn’t is there anyone else who can score?

A lot of weird stuff has happened this season, but nothing really compares to Meszaros scoring four goals in two games. What a strange world we live in.

Ennis did not play, but Meszaros’ two goals were enough to lead the Sabres to victory. Toronto on Wednesday could be the target for Ennis’ return.

2. Can the Sabres push the Coyotes even further away from 30th?

Nope, the lead is now a little bit tighter. It’s not the end of the world, the Sabres now need to get four or less points down the stretch to control their own destiny. The Sabres next game being against the tank-happy Maple Leafs will leave some people uneasy though. Someone check on Jeremy White.

3. How many of you will be up?

215 comments in the game thread? Pretty good! Now you should probably all go to bed. If your boss catches you snoozing tomorrow tell him you were doing important work last night.