@boosbuzzsabres
It's too bad the Sabres went into the slump they did following their winning streak. After being atop the league Buffalo fell rung-by-rung down the ladder and eventually out of a playoff spot. At 24-17-6 on the year the Sabres sit fifth in the Atlantic division with 54 points, are two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second Eastern conference wild card spot and three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the first wild card spot. With Buffalo having played one more game than the Pens and one less game than the Habs, even a win tonight coupled with losses by both those clubs would not change their position.
A win tonight in Vancouver against the Canucks, however, would keep the Sabres within striking distance of both those clubs as well as the Boston Bruins who are third in the division with 59 points. Buffalo has a game in hand on Boston which will be made up tonight.
Although we could get into all the psychological positives a win would bring, like going into a 10-day break on a two-game winning streak and hopefully putting to rest their slump, this team needs to play a game similar to the one they played on Wednesday. Buffalo went into the Saddledome in Calgary and came out with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Flames. It was a gutty performance, especially after getting smoked 7-2 in Edmonton two nights earlier, and featured some great (and unorthodox at times) goaltending, overall team resiliency and spectacular ending from their prime mover.
Despite getting outshot 12-3 over the final 21:10 of the game, for the second consecutive game the Sabres turned the entire analytics movement on it's head as they scored on their only two shots in the third period plus their one and only shot in the overtime session. Of note, in Edmonton the Sabres nearly doubled the Oilers' 37 shot attempts in the game but lost by five goals.
An aberration, no doubt, but it also shows the power of goaltending and in overtime, the importance of winning a faceoff.
Buffalo's goalies struggled against Edmonton. Starter Carter Hutton allowed five goals on 12 shots in 22:49 of play and was pulled after giving up consecutive goals to Conor McDavid on a breakaway and Milan Lucic on an egregious turnover in the slot. Although those two weren't his fault by any stretch, coming up with a big save either then or prior could have helped turn the tide. Backup Linus Ullmark hit the ice in relief and surrendered two goals on 13 shots.
Ullmark would get the nod against Calgary and came up with some big saves, including a couple out of pure desperation, to keep things close. Buffalo would rally around that and eventually take the lead in the third period, although they gave it up when a screened shot got by Ullmark and clanked in off of the post. Ullmark and the Sabres would hold firm the rest of the way and get the game to overtime.
There's no denying that controlling the puck in the 3-on-3 overtime usually leads to success and winning the faceoff is a good way to gain that puck possession. It's exactly what the Sabres did. Jack Eichel would eventually clank one off of the crossbar (his third post-ringing shot of the game) during the early stages of their possession and after losing the puck for a brief second they got it back. Eichel eventually put on a supreme display of savvy, quickness and skill that ended the game at the 1:10 mark of overtime.
These were the kinds of things we saw during their 10-game winning streak in November but were generally missing during their 7-11-4 post-streak record. Although a myriad of problems hurt them during that slump, lack of solid goaltending, marked by key saves at key points, may have hurt them the most throughout that time while Eichel's injury and lack of scoring prior to the Calgary game didn't help matters much either.
Ullmark doesn't have spectacular numbers overall (2.86 goals-against average, .917 save percentage,) but he's been getting the wins, as his 10-3-3 record might indicate. Whether it's the team focusing more with the 25 yr. old in net or rallying around him while averaging 3.56 goals/game in his 16 decisions, they're winning with him in net and it makes for an interesting situation. By no means is he perfect, nor has he shown that he can take on the responsibility of a full-time starter yet, but somehow they've managed to get the job done with him between the pipes.
Whether or not coach Phil Housley goes with Ullmark tonight remains to be seen, but in most eyes his performance in Calgary a earned him tonight's start.
The Sabres are going to need a good game against the upstart Canucks as they've been one of the league's surprises. Vancouver is 21-21-6 in a season where many thought they'd be near the bottom. Although they've leveled off as of late (4-4-2 in their last 10) they still represent a tall task for a Buffalo team that has struggled against the 'Nucks on the road. Prior to last year's win, the Sabres had lost four straight in Vancouver and are only 2-7-1 in their last 10 on the road against them.
After tonight there's nothing the Sabres can do when it comes to the standings so they really need to get it done. Buffalo will enter their League-mandated bye week beginning tomorrow which combined with the NHL All-Star break gives them 10 days off in a row. Then it's on to the trade deadline and, hopefully, a Sabres playoff push.
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