Score: Sabres 6 | Islanders 3
Shots: BUF 41 | NYI 33
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Kyle Okposo (10), Tage Thompson (16-SHG), Alex Tuch (7-PPG), Victor Olofsson (6, 7), Henri Jokiharju (3)
New York Islanders Goals: Kyle Palmieri (2, 3), Anders Lee (13)
Plus 1: Down A Man, Up A Goal
Tage Thompson missed the tail end of the first period after looking to possibly take a puck to the face. He returned to the bench on the second period as a man on a mission. Early into the second period the Sabres went on the penalty kill, but due to the combined heroics of Thompson and Cozens they were able to score a short-handed goal. Thompson was able to gather a puck in the Islanders zone, and after bumping into Cozens, and knocking the stick out of his hands, they were able to put pressure on the Islanders defense. This resulted in Cozens taking a quality shot on net that rebounded right to Thompson who buried it for his first career short-handed goal.
Plus 2: Dahlin Saves A Goal & Olofsson Breaks His Scoring Slump
After Dylan Cozens took a retaliatory cross-checking penalty from a behind the scenes scuffle, the Sabres were back on the penalty kill. The Islanders were significantly more dangerous on this power-player opportunity, but were unable not capitalize. A number of scoring chances led Dustin Tokarski to being caught out of position. It’s a good thing Dahlin realized the situation got down in the shooting lane to block a shot that was labeled for the Sabres empty net. Now that’s what I call team defense!
Victor Olofsson can thank Peyton Krebs for the beautiful pass that helped break his scoring drought. It was 31 games since Olofsson last found the back of the net. Cozens made a nice pass to help close out the game to Olofsson for him to bury his second goal of the night on an empty net, lets keep this trend going!
Plus 3: All I Do Is Win Win (Win?)
Back to back wins have been a rarity for the Sabres this season. This game was back and forth throughout the majority of the first two periods, but it was pretty apparent that the Sabres were the team carrying the majority of the play. A good team knows how to close out games, and that’s just what the Sabres did by scoring two empty net goals to extend their winning streak to two games. Can they keep it up and push the winning streak to three?
Final Thoughts
Alex Tuch – How many more positives can be said about this player?! He is a legitimate top line winger, that wants to be here, and it shows in every aspect of his game. He continues to put up points, however beyond just making an immediate scoring impact, he acts in a manner where a future captaincy is certainly within the realm of possibility. How can I win that autographed Tuch jersey again??
This reinvigorated Sabres team deserves more fans in person at the games. There are a lot of reasons why fans have turned sour on showing up in person to Sabres games this season, and I don’t think we need to list them. With that being said, since the Jack Eichel trade this team looks like it is in the process of turning the corner towards being competitive once again in this league. I hope the Pegulas are embarrassed by the record low attendance and do the right thing in lowering the ticket prices for a change.
Is it just me, or does Peyton Krebs continue to look better every game? He collects two primary assists in this game, and looks every bit the budding top six forward he was projected to be.
The better team won this game, and that was the Buffalo Sabres. The effort level was high throughout the entirety of the game. Sweet, sweet victory!