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Sabres End Road Trip On Sour Note in Vegas

Posted on by Ryan Wolfe

Score: Golden Knights 5 | Sabres 2

Shots: VGK 35 | BUF 32

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Alex Tuch (5), John Hayden (1)

Vegas Golden Knights Goals: Reilly Smith (12), Brett Howden (7), Jonathan Marchessault (20), Keegan Kolesar (4), Mark Stone (8)

Plus 1 | Welcome Back, Former Knights

For the first time since being acquired by the Buffalo Sabres on November 4, 2021, forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs returned to Vegas to take on their former squad.

The same can be said for forward Cody Eakin, who spent three seasons with the Golden Knights from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Tuesday night marked the first time Eakin returned to play against Vegas since being traded to Winnipeg in 2020.

A heartfelt thank you for three players who were a part of Vegas’ rise to the top of the National Hockey League.

Tuch spent the most time in Vegas’ lineup, amassing 139 points (61 goals, 78 assists) in 249 games. Eakin played 199 games for Vegas, totaling 78 points (37 goals, 41 assists). Krebs was a rookie in comparison, with only one point (an assist) in 13 games for Vegas.

Plus 2 | Tuch’s Hot Streak Continues

Alex Tuch’s arrival to the Buffalo Sabres lineup has been a thing of beauty and a much welcomed breath of fresh air.

In last night’s game, Tuch scored his fifth goal of the season. That goal brought Tuch’s point total up to 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 13 games.

Tuch continues to take advantage of his larger role in Buffalo, playing a career-high 19:46 per game.

The sky continues to be the limit for Tuch, which is a welcome sight for a struggling Sabres squad.

Minus 1 | Buffalo Can’t Handle The Knights’ Fire Power

Heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with Vegas, many could surmise that Buffalo’s chances of victory were relatively low.

Unfortunately, those gut feelings were true.

Games against teams like the Vegas Golden Knights can be used as a measuring stick to see where your franchise ranks against one of the league’s best teams.

Vegas mashed the gas pedal and Buffalo simply could not keep pace with the Pacific Division-leaders.

Final Thoughts

The All-Star Break is here. While Buffalo enters the break on a loss, time off for the franchise might ultimately be the best thing.

Too many injuries spread throughout the lineup and in goal have caused an overall lack of lineup continuity.

Buffalo is no means a playoff-caliber team but you have to think a healthy Sabres lineup is better than the current state of the team.

Talking Points