In a showdown between two goalies, Robin Lehner played excellent. He made 28 of 29 saves, raising his season save percentage to an even .930. He was the Sabres best player on the ice last night, and as captain Brian Gionta said, “He played great for us. He gave us a chance.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t play great enough, and the Sabres didn’t take advantage of that chance, as they were shut out by Frederik Andersen and the Ducks by a score of 1-0.
The lone goal of the game was scored in the second period by Sami Vatanen on the power play, the first power play goal the Sabres have allowed in their last five games. Buffalo went 0-for-4 on their own power plays.
For the Sabres, Brian Gionta led the team with seven shots, and his line along with Foligno and Larsson played well in the loss, leading the team not only in shots but in faceoff percentage, and were the only three players with a positive Corsi on the night.
The Sabres road trip continues on Friday in San Jose.
Three Questions
1. Will the top line show improvement after getting some time together?
Not really, as a trio this line had the worst collective Corsi on the team in this game.
2. What will Colaiacovo look like tonight?
Carlo wasn’t asked to do much tonight, playing the sixth defenseman role, and performed decently against a strong Anaheim squad. Cody Franson is set to return soon, unless a surprising trade is in the works.
3. Is there any way Buffalo can keep this game close, or dare we dream, win?
They did, thanks to another strong effort from Robin Lehner, who now has the highest save percentage in the Atlantic Conference among starting, non-injured goalies.
Comment of the Game
Lehner could just kill him
With his scary laser eyes.