@boosbuzzsabres
The Buffalo Sabres are off to a very good 6-4-1 start so far and compared to last year's 3-6-2 record at this point it's a great start.
Buffalo went into Columbus on Saturday night looking to extend a three-game winning streak but left Nationwide Arena with a loser point, which was no small feat considering the Sabres went into the third period down by two goals. After playing a solid first period and leading 2-1, things opened up and unfortunately for Buffalo the Blue Jackets had the transition and the firepower to pot three goal and leave the period with a 4-2 lead.
Credit to the Sabres, however as they came back with goals by Jason Pominville off a nice backhand feed from Jack Eichel and Casey Mittelstadt who scored his first of the season on the powerplay. Buffalo went into the overtime session with Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Ristolainen on the ice, lost the faceoff and found themselves in their own zone. Ristolainen temporarily stripped the puck away along the wall but the Jackets got it back and Artemi Panarin found himself alone in the right circle and he smoked it past Buffalo goalie Linus Ullmark. Panarin finished the night with 2 goals and an assist.
On the game-winner head coach Phil Housley told the gathered media afterward that his players "did all the right things there" in being aggressive to get the puck, but that "we didn't make that next play." Housley was pleased that his team was able to come back from a two-goal deficit but he did point to that second period where things got out of hand. "We were way too loose," said the coach. "We're not going to win a lot of hockey games playing like that. We know that and it's one thing we can take forward here. We'll learn from the mistakes we made, obviously, but we've got to take credit where credit's due and I think we did a terrific job battling back on the road to get a point."
The Sabres have been playing come-from-behind hockey in the last three games and they've managed five of a possible six points. Which is great that they've been able to find that will to not give up. The good point, according to Housley, is that when his team has faced adversity, "they've looked it right in the eye." But he did say that they can't keep finding themselves in those situations or "it will bite us in the you-know-what."
Buffalo has six wins this season, which is worlds ahead of last season when they didn't get their sixth win until their 23rd game on November 24. They would finish the opening two months of the 2017-18 season with a 6-15-4 record which pretty much set the tone for their last place finish.
With one more win the Sabres will match the Rochester Americans who have seven wins for the first time since 2014-15 when they went 7-1-0 in October. Rochester has been on a red-hot lately garnering 15 of a possible 16 points while on an eight-game point-streak and their 7-2-1 record has them atop the AHL's North Division.
That '14/15 team was lead by names like Phil Varone, Tim Schaller and Johan Larsson up front while Andrei Makarov, Jeff Hackett and Nathan Lieuwen were in net.
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Even though the Sabres winning streak was broken on Saturday night, they're still on a four-game point-streak and will be looking to extend it to five games against the Calgary Flames tomorrow night.
Buffalo hasn't had a five-game win-streak since the 2011-12 season when they posted a 7-0-2 mark from March 10-27.
Most of those seasons betwixt and between were littered with one or two ('16/17) four-game streaks and there was the 2013-14 season when they had none, but their best season in that regard was 2015-16, Eichel's first year, when they had five streaks like that.
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Although Eichel hasn't been scoring goals lately, he has been a force on the ice and has been setting up his team mates with six assists in his last four games, with three of them of the primary variety and one beautiful no-look backhand that sprung Pominville and Skinner for a 2-on-1 break in Anaheim where Skinner finished.
Speaking of Skinner, he's been on a tear with five goals and four assists ever since Housley put him and Pominville on the top line with Eichel four games ago. Pominville hasn't exactly been chopped liver either as he's scored four goals and added four assists and the entire line has a combined plus-15 rating in those games.
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The Amerks have three of the top four scorers in the AHL right now. Victor Olofsson leads the league with 15 points (5+10) while defenseman Zach Redmond is tied for second (Varone) with 14 points (6+8.) Defenseman Lawrence Pilut is fourth with 13 points (2+11.)
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Housley said post game that forward Evan Rodrigues was not with the club for personal reasons. Rodrigues was replaced by Tage Thompson who set up Kyle Okposo on a nice feed off of a 2-on-1 break.
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And, finally. Ullmark spent two full seasons in Rochester paying his dues and was the Amerks team MVP those two before moving up to Buffalo. Those who follow the Amerks have mentioned that he has a unique way of approaching his post-game interviews.
Last night he and his teammates got caught in a shinny, something not too unfamiliar from the past two seasons and he allowed five goals on 37 shots in the OT loss. The goals against were either precise shots or a product of breakdowns in front of him and Housley didn't really find any fault in his game. Afterward Ullmark met the media.
In the video below via nhl.com, the 25 yr. old Swede, like he's done in the past, will ask for clarification when needed and also points out that the question as asked is actually the answer. He seems as locked in post-game as he is in game and his shy demeanor has a way of hiding just how sharp he is.
He's thoughtful, concise and well-spoken and it's refreshing.
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