@boosbuzzsabres
For the first 20 minutes of last night's 3-0 shutout win at Los Angeles, the Buffalo Sabres looked as if they'd shrugged off their loss from the night before. While in Anaheim on Wednesday, the Sabres got off to a great start but got thrown off of their game as a big and fast Ducks team got uber-physical and laid 200' pressure on them from late in the first period onward. The result was a 5-2 Sabres loss, their first regulation loss of the season, as their once potent powerplay went a meager 1/7 with the man advantage and their frustrations had them playing Anaheim's game instead of their own.
Buffalo's goal heading into the Staples Center against the Kings for the second game of a back-to-back was to stick to their game regardless of what Los Angeles threw at them and for the first period, they were able to play Sabres hockey. Buffalo scored two goals in the first 5:20 of the game and kept their foot on the gas as much as they could the rest of the period. In the second period they took advantage of an early powerplay by upping their lead to 3-0 before Los Angeles turned the tide.
Like a well used heavy Chevy with a bunch of new parts keeping it rolling, it took the Kings a little while to get warmed up but when they did it was an onslaught from the time Buffalo scored their third goal at 2:32 of the second period until the end of the frame. Los Angeles outshot the Sabres 17-10 for the entire 20-minutes but really cranked it up after falling behind by three goals. In all the Kings went on a shot-binge that at one point had them pumping 15 consecutive shots to the towards the Buffalo net--eight on goal, four misses and three blocked by the Sabres--in a span of 7:27. For the entire period the Kings missed more shots (12) than Buffalo had shots on goal and most of those misses came from high danger areas in the slot. Thank heaven Los Angeles' Ilya Kovalchuk channeled former King and Sabre Alexei Zhitnik and couldn't hit the broad side of the barn last night as he had enough high-danger chances in the second period to put the Kings up 4-3 by himself.
For the pucks that did get on net, Buffalo goalie Carter Hutton was there for the stop as he registered a franchise record 47-save shutout. It was Hutton's second consecutive shoutout and he hasn't allowed a goal in 127:06 dating back to the third period of Buffalo's 5-4 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on October 9. Hutton has been outstanding so far for Buffalo as he hasn't lost a game yet and leads the league in wins with five. His 1.39 goals-against average and .953 save percentage are also tops in the league for goalies who've played in two or more games.
Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt had himself a breakout game last night as he registered his first two goals of the season--one at even strength to open the scoring and the other on the powerplay to put Buffalo up 3-0--and added a primary assist. The second-year pro struggled early on in his first shift on the ice but gathered his senses as he helped create a turnover at the Kings blueline before one-timing a pass from Jimmy Vesey to open the scoring at the 2:36-mark. A few minutes later he gathered a chip pass from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and took it up the left side with two Kings players in hot pursuit. Mittelstadt deftly sent a cross-ice pass to a hard-charging Conor Sheary who buried a one-timer from the slot and the line that hadn't scored since Game-1 of the season had Buffalo up 2-0. Mittelstadt scored on the powerplay early in the second period to put Buffalo up 3-0.
In all the Mittelstadt line combined for two goals, two assists and were a plus-6 on the night. Of note, in addition to Mittelstadt registering his first goals of the season Vesey's assist was his first point of the season while Sheary scored in his first game back from injury. That line had been struggling to find offense since Sheary scored from Mittelstadt in the opener but to their credit they haven't been scored on very often so far this season and the result has been a combined plus-12 for them with all three ranked in the top five for Buffalo.
The Sabres just got through two grueling games on back-to-back nights against two big teams who know how to lay the body on the competition and they came away with a split. For as disappointing as the Anaheim loss was, and for as difficult as their second period against Los Angeles was, it seems as if Buffalo is learning how to win. They're also learning that they can trust in their game and with the way Hutton has been playing they have more opportunity to stick to it, especially while under intense pressure.
Head coach Ralph Krueger has said on more than one occasion that different teams bring different styles and that his team can come out on top by sticking to Sabres hockey. Buffalo is a surprising 6-1-1 on the season and growing with each game.
As Sabres fans we're rather unaccustomed to winning like this and it's taken some adjustment. In the deep recesses of our collective fandom, there's always that little voice that reminds everyone in Sabreland that the team went on a 10-game winning streak last year but finished 27th in the league. Fans are also reminded that the Sabres haven't been to the playoffs in a league-long eight seasons and as various players revert back to, or close to, their norm from years past, that light at the end of the tunnel just might be a train barreling towards them. There are still over 70 games to play, the Atlantic Division has some entrenched heavyweights plus more than a couple of upstarts in the division an conference who will make life difficult for their playoff push and the Sabres roster still has holes.
This run could end at any minute, but in looking at how they performed last night in a tough back-to-back situation on the road while playing two heavy teams, their response in L.A. was solid despite that long, anxious stretch in the second period and a shot total that read Kings-47, Buffalo 24.
All that really matters is the final score: Buffalo-3 LA Kings-0.
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