@boosbuzzsabres
Late Sunday morning one of the posters on here referred to the upcoming slate of events for both the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills as "brutal." The take was warranted considering the Bills were about an hour away from taking on the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens and the Sabres were set to finish up a three-game Western Canada road swing against the second-best team in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers, later that night.
Western New York football fans knew what their team was up against as the Bills faced a nightmare in multi-faceted and uber-talented Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as well as a blitz-crazy Baltimore defense that had given offenses fits all season. Winning that game would be a tall order for the Bills and though they came out on the losing end, they walked out of New Era field with a lot of league-wide respect for the game they played against the Super Bowl favorite.
A few hours later the Sabres hit the ice at Roger's Center to minimal expectations as they were in the second game of a back-to-back finishing off their three-games-in-four-night swing. They'd lost the first game in Calgary 4-3 on Thursday, lost 6-5 in overtime the night before in Vancouver and were up against an Oilers team that boasted the top two scorers in the NHL, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. They came through with a 3-2 win in overtime.
The Sabres played a strong road game as they held Draisaitl and McDavid without a point and were but a second away from thwarting the NHL's best powerplay for a third time. "It was a beautiful victory," said Buffalo bench boss Ralph Krueger to the media. "Beautiful" in more ways than one as not only did his team "show plenty of character" to get the win, but they got the win for Krueger who was facing his former team for the first time.
Sabres forward Kyle Okposo, who scored Buffalo's first goal, was asked post-game if there was any motivation to get the win for Krueger and without hesitation he said, "sure was."
"We talked about it in between periods and this morning and we wanted to get a win for him," he continued. "We know how much it meant to him. He wouldn't say it but I know that this game meant a lot to him."
Krueger had spent three seasons coaching in Edmonton, two as an assistant, one as their head coach in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. After finishing third in the division with a 19-22-7 record that year and missing the playoffs by a wide margin, Krueger was fired by general manager Craig McTavish via Skype. Although that insult hurt, Krueger said pregame yesterday that he "didn't let the bitterness in "because "the only person it would have hurt was me."
After his firing Krueger left the hockey world for a stint with Southampton of the English Premier Soccer League while also coaching hockey on the international stage before deciding to become head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Interesting note, one of his options for a return to the NHL was as President of the NY Rangers, according Derek Van Diest in an article yesterday for the Edmonton Journal.
Krueger chose the Sabres in part because the young talent he had to work with was similar to what he was working with in Edmonton. "It's actually pretty similar where I stepped into the Sabres from where I left the Oilers," he said (via the Diest article.) "When you have high-end players coming in at 18, 19 it takes them a few years to really open their minds to what it takes and what it needs (to function at the NHL level.)
"I feel that we were just getting there when I left Edmonton and I was able to step into the Sabres in and advanced stage where we're close and on the cups of becoming a competitive team to stay in the race throughout the season."
It looks as if Krueger's message to his Sabres team is finally starting to sink. His team was stuck in the muck of playing inconsistent, losing hockey for much of November and he watched a hot 8-1-1 start the season turn into a 1-7-1 slide as his charges lost their way. However, they seemed to find themselves during a loss against the Bruins in Boston in the final game of that slide. Since then are 4-2-3 and though their record screams mediocrity at best, and while they still haven't won two games in a row since the hot start, they're playing consistent hockey.
"I told you back home (prior to the road trip) that we really like that we've settled into a game," said Krueger last night. "I thought all three games (on this road trip) whether Calgary, Vancouver or now Edmonton, there were a lot of really good things happening in the games. We did let them slip with some strange game-management situations, but overall there is a consistency now and a belief in what our game is.
"It's one thing to know we have a plan but the other thing is it starts becoming automatic and that the habits come through."
Some of the "really good things happening" include captain Jack Eichel who extended his points-streak to 13 games this road trip with a goal and three assists in Western Canada. Eichel's streak began with a four-goal performance in a 4-2 win over Ottawa and during the streak he's notched 10 goals and 23 points. Perhaps equally as important, if not more important, is that we're seeing Eichel mature into the bona fide superstar he was drafted for right before our eyes and his buy-in to what Krueger was selling has reverberated throughout the lineup.
Okposo came off the injured list to score goals in consecutive games while he and his linemates picked up where they left off prior to his injury. The trio of Okposo, center Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons not only continued with their heavy forecheck, but they've also produced more than expected with four goals and two assists over the last two games. Girgensons scored a third period goal in Calgary to pull the Sabres to within a goal while Larsson scored Buffalo' second goal last night and contributed two primary assists against the Flames.
Linus Ullmark was in net for Buffalo's win last night and he continued to come up with some big saves to keep things in check. After the Oilers broke the ice midway through the second period Ullmark faced Edmonton onslaught and didn't crack until a tip-in with one second left on the Oilers third powerplay of the night. Ullmark continues to be Buffalo's only viable goaltender as Carter Hutton has been struggling mightily having not won since October 22.
On the downside is the Sabres powerplay which failed to even register a shot on three opportunities last night and looked as awful as that stat would indicate. Buffalo is also facing troublesome lack of production from the middle-six forward group which accounted for only one of the Sabres 11 goals on this road trip. Marcus Johansson provided the game-tying goal in Vancouver with the goalie pulled in a 6-on-5 situation late in the game.
Last night was a big win for the Sabres and it salvaged what could have been a terrible road trip. Finishing 1-1-1 is better than the alternative and despite their fall and their struggle to pull themselves out of the muck, Buffalo still its second in the Atlantic Division (32 points) thanks to their hot start and a jumbled division outside of the Bruins.
All-in-all it wasn't a bad Sunday for Buffalo sports thanks to a Sabres win in Edmonton and a solid, albeit losing, performance from the Bills against the Ravens.
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