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Sabres Come from Behind to Beat the Blackhawks in OT

<em>Buffalo Puts on Some Late Game Pressure to Win </em>

Score: Sabres 4, Blackhawks 3

Shots: Buffalo: 45 Chicago: 26

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Victor Olofsson (2), Tage Thompson (2)

Chicago Blackhawks Goals: Jason Dickinson (1), Sam Lafferty (1), Taylor Raddysh (1)

Plus 1: Victor Goalofsson Lives Up to His Name Again

2:53 into the first period. Victor Olofsson scored a power play goal on Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. No sooner did the Sabres celebrate than Chicago challenged the goal on an offside and the video reviewers in Toronto took it away.

Undaunted, Olofsson came right back and got a slap shot past Soderblom to make it 1-0 once again. This time, officials let it stand.

Buffalo ran into some trouble in the second period, and the Sabres soon found themselves in a 3-1 deficit. The Blue and Gold battled back in the third and tied the game to force an OT. Jonathan Toews got a holding penalty near the end of regulation and the Sabres’ power play bled into OT. Less than a minute in the overtime period, Olofsson scored another slap shot on Soderblom to win it 4-3.

Michael Closser, SuperMatt74 and BuffBillsFan05 all had the Comment of the Game: “Goaloooooooooofson”, “Goooaaaalllllofson” and “Goalofsson!”, respectively.

Plus 2: Thompson Terrific

Tage Thompson was a major reason the Sabres ended their two-game losing streak instead of getting into a deep hole early in the season. With 8:15 left in the third period, Thompson scored a wrister on Soderblom to cut Chicago’s lead to 3-2 and give Buffalo a late lease on life.

TT wasn’t done yet. Five minutes later, with 3:15 remaining, Thompson scored again to tie it 3-3 with assists from Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo.

Thompson, along with Skinner and Okposo, continue to show toughness and determination. They refused to give up when the Sabres were on the ropes, and helped the team climb out of a two-goal deficit to force an OT.

Minus 1: Bad Officiating Getting Ridiculous

With the Buffalo Sabres down 3-2 in the third period and six minutes left, the refs penalized Rasmus Dahlin for high sticking Max Domi. As Rob Ray pointed out on MSG and as video clearly showed, Dahlin didn’t even touch Domi, but officials made him sit in the box and the Sabres had to kill off a late game penalty.

Sabres fans are tired of seeing refs make questionable calls on Buffalo players. The zebras refused to even review it, after Don Granato protested. It’s one thing if the Sabres lose to their opponents, but quite another if the refs look like they’re helping the other team out.

Thankfully, Buffalo won anyway, but the high sticking penalty on Dahlin looked like bad officiating and blatant bias at its worse.

Final Thoughts

The Buffalo Sabres showed strong perseverance to battle back from a two-goal deficit and get a come-from-behind overtime victory. The team employed the kind of late game pressure their opponents were more likely to use against them last season. It’s a welcome change from some of the heartbreaking losses we’ve all endured over the past decade. Maybe just maybe Buffalo’s hockey culture is changing.

The Sabres host the Detroit Red Wings for a Monday night Halloween matchup next. Puck drop is at 7 pm.

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