Buffalo Keeps it Rolling For Eight Victories in a Row
Score: Buffalo Sabres 6-3 San Jose Sharks
Shots: BUF 26-20 SJ
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Quinn 13th (Zucker, McLeod) Tuch 28th (Dahlin, Samuelsson) Malenstyn 6th (Krebs, Dahlin) Zucker 20th (Quinn, Power) Quinn 14th (McLeod, Dahlin) Quinn 15th EN (McLeod)
San Jose Sharks: Celebrini 33rd (Smith) Sherwood 20th (Ferraro, Wennberg) Wennberg 13th PPG (Toffoli)
Plus 1: Buffalo Shows More Bite
The Sabres played the trap game against Nashville on Saturday, then they played THE game against Tampa on Sunday night. After that wild win for the ages, Buffalo looked to sustain their momentum against the pesky Sharks on Tuesday night. The team was assuredly drained, both physically and emotionally after that epic battle with the Lightning. They didn’t show it early, though. The Sabres got the first three shots of the period, including Jack Quinn’s 13th goal of the year and first in some time. Jack completed the two on one break with Jason Zucker and buried it. Credit Ryan McLeod for springing the play with the secondary assist.
After the Sharks first shot on goal, the Sabres got another good chance as Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the point was perfectly deflected by Alex Tuch past San Jose goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. It was Tuch’s 28th goal of the season as the forward continues to pile on the points since the Olympic break. Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson picked up the assists as the home team jumped out to a quick two goal lead.
Buffalo then got a little sloppy on a zone clear, and Macklin Celebrini (who else?) cashed in for his 33rd goal of the year. Celebrini was a threat all game long and his goal was his 90th point of the season. Just insane for a 19 year old. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Logan Stanley (in his first Sabres game) got into a spirited bout with Zack Ostapchuk. He must have been itching to go after watching that Lightning game from the press box. Moments later, Beck Malenstyn delivered a big hit on Celebrini and Barclay Goodrow jumped him for another fight. Beck handled himself well and Buffalo got a power play out of it. There was no scoring for the rest of the period but San Jose’s young talent did pin the Sabres in deep in the final minute. They sure are a skilled group but Buffalo didn’t help themselves with too many turnovers.
Plus 2: Sinking Sharks, Late Lifeboat
Five minutes into the middle frame, Beck Malenstyn was at it again, this time scoring a spectacular goal on a hero-like quest to the net. As the Sabres cleared it up ice, Beck picked it up, skated over the blue line and danced/bulled his way around the defender before blowing the puck by Askarov. It was Malenstyn’s 6th of the year and seemingly his 3rd goal scored in that fashion. You got to love the Herculean effort this guy puts in every game.
About four minutes later, Jason Zucker remained red hot, firing home some loose change in front of the net. This was his 20th tally of the season in only his 46th game.. His line was cycling the puck nicely, with pin point passes and smooth skating. Jack Quinn collected his second point of the night as it was his shot that led to the goal. Owen Power picked up a helper as well. Soon after, Tage Thompson was undercut with a dangerous low hit and none other than Zach Benson jumped in to defend his teammate. Taz threw a punch and wrestled him down before everyone piled in. Every team in the NHL wants a player with Benny’s heart, he is an amazing young player.
After a strong 2nd period, Buffalo gave up a late goal as the Sharks got back in it. Kiefer Sherwood scored his 20th of the year over the shoulder of goaltender Alex Lyon with just 31 seconds to go. After two periods of play, the score was 4-2 and the Sabres were outshooting the Sharks 20-13.
Plus 3: Sunk, Fish Food
Buffalo came out in the third period fresh and ready to go, with a spirited crowd behind them. Jack Quinn gave them even more to cheer for as his blast from 20 feet found the twine. Ryan McLeod made a great pass as that line was buzzing yet again. Toothless has been a constant lately, steadily producing.
San Jose answered with a power play goal to cut the lead to two, at 5-3. Then the Sabres had to kill a second penalty to newcomer Logan Stanley, this time they did. The Sharks pulled the goalie with over three minutes remaining and Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn literally worked their asses off to get the empty netter. Quinn scored his third of the evening with a steal, hard skating and great passing from the pair. Just a great back and forth effort to seal the win. The assist was McLeod’s third of the night.
Buffalo makes it eight wins in a row by the final of 6-3. The Sabres still have some defensive lapses to clean up after that Tampa game but overall a strong effort. We saw no signs of a letdown and the team marches on. The only bad news was Tage Thompson’s point streak coming to an end at 11 games. Buffalo increases their first place lead on Tampa, who lost 5-2 to Columbus.
Comment of the game from Apologist42 “Well that was fun. Bought a hat, lost a hat. It was a nice hat. Worth it.”
Final Thoughts:
With three assists tonight, Rasmus Dahlin now has 31 points in his last 22 games. He was really slick in this contest. Jack Quinn hit the 40 point mark for the first time in his career with his 4 point/3 goal night. He now sits at 43 points total.
Jason Zucker is on a heater, scoring big goals and leading the way as one of the senior forwards on the team. He is easily one of former GM Kevyn Adams’ best signings.
The five game homestand continues for Buffalo on Thursday, March 12th against the Washington Capitals. Game time is 7pm.