Who needs your two leading scorers anyways?
Despite missing Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Ennis, the Sabres exploded for six goals, one of which being an empty netter. It wasn’t the best day for Eddie Lack, who was starting for Vancouver in place of the injured Ryan Miller.
The two teams alternated goals up to 3-3, but the Sabres took over in the third period. Torrey Mitchell scored the eventual game-winning goal, his second on the night. This was only his second career two-goal game. He took more of a role tonight, playing 16 minutes, due to the injuries.
Four of the goals came from players that likely won’t be here next season, with two from Mitchell, one from Chris Stewart and one from Andrej Meszaros. There are two ways to interpret this. Either its great for trade value, or our draft selection is getting hurt by players who aren’t even close to being a part of the future core.
The Sabres are now three points behind Edmonton and four behind Arizona, who gave up a go-ahead goal with three minutes left because Mike Smith did not have a stick. That sounds like a Sabres thing to do.
Two Questions
1. How will the injuries to Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Ennis change the Sabres offense?
Apparently they just needed to get out of the way for the Sabres to be able to score. Who would have guessed?
2. Which hot goaltender will bring his team victory?
Michal Neuvirth continues to win. He made 28 saves on 31 shots and is now 3-1-1 in his last five games.