The Carubba Collision was a ref getting hit slightly in the face with a stick. That pretty much sums up this game and how I feel.
The Sabres lost to the Stars 3-1 tonight thanks to the NHL deciding that the thing the league needs is even less goals being scored. Sam Reinhart tied the game at two in the third period, but Lindy Ruff challenged the play since Tyler Ennis was offsides.
Despite giving up the early goal thanks to some suspect defense, the Sabres were in it for a majority of the game. Alex Goligoski made a Sabres win unlikely in the third, as he was left alone due to Tim Schaller getting deked out of his shorts. Jason Spezza tipped the shot just enough to fool Ullmark.
The Sabres made a resurgance, were unable to score until Ryan O’Reilly’s goal 13 minutes into the final frame. The goal was similar to what you’ve come to expect from ROR this season, a nice hard shot from the faceoff dots that finds a hole.
Reinhart scored on a pretty wrist shot a few minutes later, but upon further review Ennis entered the zone just before the puck bounced off the sideboards and in. This isn’t the first time a Sabres goal has been disallowed because a challenged off-sides call, as what should have been Evander Kane’s first goal as a Sabre was called back as well.
Three Questions
1. Will Zach Bogosian or Zemgus Girgensons play tonight?
Bogosian got his first game action of the season tonight. He was caught out of position a bit on the Stars first goal, but overall looked pretty good for not playing in months. Girgensons sat out tonight with his injury.
2. Can the Sabres contain the Stars’ stars?
Despite the loss, the Sabres were able to hold Dallas’ best players in check. Valeri Nichushkin, famous in Buffalo for slight outrage when Buffalo chose Rasmus Ristolainen instead of him, scored in the first minute, skating around the Sabres defenders to take advantage of Linus Ullmark, who was out of position. Tyler Seguin scored an empty netter, which doesn’t really count for much.
3. Which part-time goalie will look like a starter?
Linus Ullmark made some nice stops in the losing effort, making 26 saves on 28 shots.