@boosbuzzsabres
Or grab your plate of Thanksgiving leftovers and settle in this afternoon as the Buffalo Sabres are hosting the Montreal Canadiens for a 4pm start at KeyBank Center. The two teams met just over two weeks ago in Montreal with the Sabres coming out on top of a 6-5 overtime thriller which kicked off their present, league-high seven-game winning streak.
The goal-fest at Bell Centre featured Buffalo goals from Vladimir Sobotka (2,) Conor Sheary, Jeff Skinner (2) and an overtime blast from gassed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Four times the Sabres took a one-goal lead only to see it matched before the Canadiens took a 5-4 lead on a shorthanded goal by Nicolas Deslauriers, who was traded by Buffalo to Montreal last October, late in the second period. Sabres backup goalie Linus Ullmark was in net for the first two periods before being pulled in favor of Carter Hutton to start the third period.
Neither Ullmark nor Habs starter Carey Price had a particularly good night as Ullmark only stopped 27 of 32 shots on goal (.843 save percentage) while Price was worse stopping only 25 of 31 (.806 Sv%.) Hutton only faced five shots in the third period and none 1:38 of overtime for the win.
Hutton has been a rock in net for the Sabres and is on a career best six-game winning streak himself while posting a sub-two goals-against average and a .933 save percentage during this run. Overall he's 10-6-1 this season and is on pace for over 60 games, which would be markedly higher than his previous high of 40 games played for the Nashville Predators in 2013-14. Although it's hard to fathom he'll be able to top his stellar 2.09 GAA and solid .931 Sv% from last season with the St. Louis Blues, he's making saves when needed either to keep games within reach for the Sabres or help his team cling to a lead.
Montreal backup Antti Niemi is slated to start in net for the Habs tonight and a lot is being made about the Sabres facing a parade of back up goalies during this win-streak. However, it should be noted that Buffalo beat Price and Vancouver Canucks No. 1 Jacob Markstrom to start this roll and also defeated Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild, all of whom have started at least 16 games for their respective clubs. The Sabres also defeated Winnipeg's Laurent Brossoit who, although a backup, was sporting a 3-0-0 record with a 1.68 GAA and a .957 Sv% at the time he faced the Sabres.
Neimi isn't the greatest of goalies right now (4-2-0; 3.74 GAA; .887 Sv%) but the Sabres have been taking what the other team has been giving them while winning in a variety of ways, scoring an array of goals with all but one of those games being decided by a single goal. Buffalo's top line featuring Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner has been doing the bulk of the work during this streak but they've also been getting secondary scoring from the forwards and defensemen outside of that pair's RW's Sam Reinhart and Jason Pominville. In Buffalo's last three wins they've scored a total of 13 goals, 10 of them 5v5 with only two of them being scored by the top line. Four came from the other lines (Tage Thompson [2], Casey Mittlestadt and Johan Larsson) while four different defensemen have scored the others (Zach Bogosian, Casey Nelson, Jake McCabe and Rasmus Dahlin.
Regardless of how well Buffalo is playing right now and/or how they end up on the winning end of the score, Montreal has always represented a pretty tough game. The Sabres are 4-2-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Habs and only 4-3-3 at home.
But Buffalo has been putting up some pretty impressive numbers through 22 games. Their 8-2-0 record in their last 10 game is second best in the league (NY Rangers, 8-1-1) and their 7-2-1 home record over the last 10 games is tied for fourth-best in the league. They own the league's fifth-best penalty-kill unit in the league (82.2%) and the 11th-best home powerplay (23.3%.)
Skinner is tied for second in the league with 15 goals, Eichel is tied for fourth in the league with 20 assists and every Sabres skater has at least one goal except for Remi Elie who has played in only four games. Plus, Buffalo's defensemen have been getting into the act as well scoring 12 goals total through 21 games, which is a far cry from last season when it took until December 5 for their first (McCabe) and they totaled 19 all season.
At some point in time this Buffalo-run will end but right now Sabreland is savoring the deliciousness of a roll that has their team tied for second in the Eastern conference with a 14-6-2 record. The crowd at KeyBank Center on Wednesday welcomed home their streaking club with a roar and the Sabres reciprocated with an electrifying 4-0 start to the game and an eventual 5-2 win.
The tryptophan and pie hangover from Thanksgiving dinner and an early Black Friday puck-drop might hamper a rollicking start initially today but then again, one never does know, and it may not even matter. The Sabres have been winning in a number of different ways.
Hopefully they can keep this going.
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