The Buffalo Sabres came into last night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings looking for their first winning streak of the season, and they left the game looking at Jonathan Quick’s blocker and their own penalty sheet as two reasons why they failed to achieve such an impossible dream.
Quick stopped all 19 shots he faced, and the Kings scored on two of five power play chances to secure the 2-0 win. Special teams killed the Sabres tonight, as they couldn’t convert on any of their four chances. Tyler Myers took a whopping 11 penalty minutes thanks to two minor penalties and a fight against Matt Frattin. While it’s nice to see the nasty side of Myers coming out on this road trip, he took as many minor penalties as the rest of the team combined.
The Sabres were successful in limiting the Kings to 26 shots, which is usually the mid-second period total for Sabres opponents. However, 19 shots of their own isn’t going to cut it despite some of those being good scoring chances. Ron Rolston was rolling his four lines pretty evenly, with the fourth line getting about 12 minutes per player, but only four Sabres took more than one shot, and none of them got past Quick.
The Sabres will try to bounce back tomorrow night versus the Ducks.
Three Questions
1. Can Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis continue to score?
Nope. In fact, nobody can continue to score because this is Buffalo and we can’t have nice things.
2. How will the defensive zone coverage look?
Better, as the Sabres did let in zero goals while playing 5-on-5. They also limited LA to just 28 shots, which is a massive win for a team that usually lets up between 40-50 per game. At least we didn’t get any bobsled/speed skating moments tonight.
3. Will the Sabres finally get two wins in a row?
Maybe next month.
Three Stars
1. Jonathan Quick – 19 save shutout
2. Mike Richards – goal and an assist
3. Drew Doughty– almost 26 minutes of being Drew Doughty
Comment of the Game
Goals are overrated
It’s so cliched to decide who wins based on goals for versus goals against. It’s just a silly cultural bias that oppresses less skilled teams like the Sabres.
– Gareth Braxton
I like this plan.
Highlights
Courtesy of Sabres.com