Strong defensive effort seals 4-2 win against bitter division rival

Boxscore

Score: Buffalo Sabres 4-2 Tampa Bay Lightning
Shots: BUF 29-25 TBL

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Tuch 30 (Byram, McLeod); Norris 11 (Doan, Benson); Zucker 23 (Byram, Dahlin); Quinn 19 ENG
Tampa Bay Lightning Goals: Kucherov 43 PPG (Guentzel, Raddysh); Guentzel 37 (Point, Raddysh)zz

Quick Thoughts

Reports of their Demise

Let’s start off by clearly stating that rumours of the Buffalo Sabres’ death have been greatly exaggerated. Yes the Sabres have been flat in the last few games but within the first few minutes after puck drop tonight showed that not only were they ready to take on this kind of opponent, they were more than prepared to play playoff hockey.

True Grit

Speaking of playoff hockey, how about that overall performance by the Sabres tonight? They were physical, strong on and off the puck, getting the timely saves and scoring the even timelier goals to keep the visitors on the back-foot. The Sabres went 3-0-1 against the Bolts and showed that they are ready to play them in a seven-game series.

They took the lead thrice, and though they let the Bolts come back twice, they kept them off the scoreboard that vital – and final – third time.

D-Fence

Buffalo’s secret recipe this season has been playing strong defense, and hitting their opponents with attacking, freewheeling hockey (aka river hockey). They beat Tampa tonight by shutting them down for long periods, frustrating the ultra-talented Floridians. Check out the stats in this next stanza.

A Winning Formula

All season long the Sabres have won by winning the first or the second period, and then playing solid defense in the final stanza, and they did it again tonight. Check out the numbers – scoring chances for & against 17-3, 12-10, 2-10 from first to third period; expected goals for & against 1.37-0.54, 1.32-0.88, 0.52-0.87; Corsi for & against 23-10, 20-17, 10-25.

UPL tames Big Cat

Two periods in, Andrei Vasilevskiy was outdueling Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a solid showing, foiling Alex Tuch and Zach Benson multiple times among other Sabres. However, UPL was not to be outdone on his home ice given his current form. The Finn was ice-cold in the final period, and despite the Lightning having 83.33% of the scoring chances in the third stanza, he didn’t concede again to lead the Sabres to a 4-2 win. UPL finished with another positive Goals Saved Above Expected with a plus 0.48 margin this time.

Power Play Still Blanking

The Sabres power play was atrocious over the weekend and wasn’t much better tonight, going 0/4. Opponents like the Lightning will continue to take liberties against the Sabres stars unless we start punishing them for the penalties they take, much like when the two sides last met.

At The Horn

The Buffalo Sabres have to be feeling pretty good about how they have played against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it’s a potential trailer for the upcoming postseason. The Bolts started the day two points ahead of the Sabres with a game in hand, but now they just have that one game less played with the two teams level on points.

From when the Hockey Stat Cards became available earlier this season, this is by far the most ‘positive’ performance the Sabres have had with only Tage Thompson and Luke Schenn in the minus territory, and that too marginally.

Buffalo has certainly bounced back from their recent hiccups with tonight’s showing. They’ll be looking to close out the remainder of the season in a positive fashion, starting with Wednesday against the Rangers at MSG.

Related