Buffalo ends its 13-game winless streak with a 7-1 victory.
Score: Buffalo Sabres 7 | New York Islanders 1
Shots: BUF 25 | NYI 28
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Beck Malenstyn (3), Jiri Kulich (5,6), Jason Zucker (9), Zach Benson (5), Jack Quinn (4), Tage Thompson (17-EN)
New York Islanders Goals: Kyle Palmieri (12)
Plus 1: A Win!
I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to write about a win, but man, it’s about time. For the first time in literally a calendar month, the Buffalo Sabres have won a hockey game. It’s not just that they won, either, but they won big. This was a decisive win where the Sabres left the Islanders very little room to rally back, kept a tight game and played pretty consistently throughout the night to make sure they got out on the winning side of things.
Amid the team’s recent struggles, I was on the edge of my seat in the opening minutes as I waited (honestly) for the opponent to score first. It felt inevitable, so when Beck Malenstyn instead opened the scoring at 2:07, it was a mild sense of surprise and relief. Okay, cool. Good start.
Then, Jiri Kulich makes it 2-0 before the end of the first period, and things start to feel a little better, even. It’s only a two-goal lead, but they look decent tonight, at least so far. Buffalo held the Isles to just five shots on goal in the first period, and this game feels… okay?
The Sabres score three times in the second period, including twice in a span of 2:36, and all of a sudden, this game feels GOOD. It’s 6-0. The secondary scoring has arrived. The Islanders aren’t getting quality chances. Sure, Palmieri pots one late in the period, with less than a minute left, but it still feels okay. It’s one goal, but on a night like this, it doesn’t feel like a problem like it would’ve a few games ago.
Patrick Roy does Patrick Roy things and pulls the goalie midway through the third, and Tage Thompson doesn’t miss on the empty net. Holy cow, we’re actually going to win this, I say to myself, still not wanting to believe it for fear of a total collapse in the final 10 minutes. Even they can’t screw this up at this point.
Kulich pops in the final goal of the night, his second of the evening and sixth of the season, with less than five minutes to play, and Buffalo is coasting to a huge win. It’s huge on the scoreboard with regards to the number of goals scored, but it’s even bigger that it finally ends the dreadful spell they’ve been in.
Plus 2: Looking Better
It wasn’t just a win, but the Sabres also just generally looked better on Monday night than they had in a while, and against a tough Islanders team. They put up five goals on 20 shots against Ilya Sorokin in the first two periods. They drew penalties, but also played with some of their own aggression.
And how about Rasmus Dahlin? You can’t say enough good things about him. He had four assists, the most by any NHL defenseman this season. That matches the Sabres’ franchise record and is the first time a Sabres defenseman has potted four assists since 2006. He also finished the game a plus-5, and his overall GameScore of 7.91 is the highest single game score of any player in the league this season.
You could say the Sabres missed Dahlin, but that might be an understatement.
Final Thoughts
It feels like we’ve all been holding our breath for a month, and now, we can finally breathe – at least a little. I don’t think anyone is looking at this win and acting as though this solves everything; the problems in this team run deeper than a single win snapping a 13-game skid, but still – let us hold onto this feeling for a moment. It’s been a long time coming.
It feels a little like this right now but maaaan, does it feel good. #sabres pic.twitter.com/3IyuhARL3b
— Die By The Blade (@diebytheblade) December 24, 2024
One win under the belt. Now, let’s see what this team does next. Friday’s game comes against a struggling Chicago Blackhawks team – one of two teams that sit below the Sabres in the standings, as of writing. Chicago (12-21-2, 26 points) is the worst team in the NHL. It’s a must-win and should-win for Buffalo, who has just three games left in the 2024 calendar year.