The Buffalo Sabres did something on Saturday night that they hadn't done since 2015.
They overcame long odds and scored the final five goals against Columbus. Entering the back end of their home and home set with the Blue Jackets, the Sabres had won just two of their last ten games. They needed a win in regulation to right their recent wrongs and to give themselves a chance at one last push for a wild card playoff berth.
The Sabres last scored five or more unanswered goals on December 26, 2015 at Boston. The Sabres won that game 6-3.
On Saturday night in their own barn, one night after losing a heart breaker on a Boone Jenner goal late in the third period of a 3-3 game in Columbus, the Sabres found a way to fight themselves out of a 3-0 deficit to beat the Blue Jackets 5-3.
The Blue Jax lit the lamp three times in the first 17:56 minutes played in the game. Goals by David Savard, Nick Foligno, and Oliver Bjorkstrand shoved the Sabres into the corner.
Sabres starting goalie Anders Nilsson was removed from the game after the first period intermission and was replaced by Robin Lehner who made 24 saves in his relief appearance.
3-0 is the worst lead in hockey.
Last Sunday night, the Sabres coughed up a 3-0 lead in Pittsburgh and lost the game.
It's harder to defend a fat lead these days in the NHL. The team with the three goal bulge tends to protect it's lead rather than attack the opponent to continue to fill their net with more biscuits. When this happens, the team with the lead retreats and plays the more passive approach.
The Blue Jackets imploded on Saturday night.
Jake McCabe, Matt Moulson (PPG) and Samson Reinhart answered the bell for the Sabres. Reinhart's goal at 19:56 of the second period tied the game and gave the Sabres newfound hope heading into the final twenty minutes of play.
At 17:31 of the third period, Evander Kane scored the game winner on the power play off a great feed by Jack Eichel.
Eichel sealed the deal with an empty net goal with four seconds remaining on the game clock.
With his goal, McCabe has a point in each of his last two games against Columbus and six points (2G, 4A) in his last eight games overall.
Moulson now has 10 power-play goals this season. It’s the second-highest total of his career and the most since he scored 14 PPG in 2011-12.
Kane’s two-point night gives him nine points (5G, 4A) in his last seven games against the Blue Jackets.
Kane has 22 points (13G, 9A) in his last 23 games, including 11 goals in his last 16.
Kane has scored each of his 25 goals this season in his last 45 games.
Kane is tied for eighth in the NHL with 22 even-strength goals despite not scoring his first until December 3.
Since December 1, Kane is ranked fourth among all NHL skaters in goals (25) and leads the NHL in even-strength goals (22).
With two points on Saturday night, Eichel now leads the NHL in points (25) and assists (19) since the NHL All Star break.
Eichel now has scored 47 points in 48 games this season. Eichel jumped ahead rookie Finnisher Patrik Laine and is now ranked 12th in the NHL in points per game with .98 (minimum 20 games played).
Eichel has 29 points (11G, 18A) in 25 home games this season, including nine multi-point outings.
Eichel has scored 32 points (11G, 21A) in his last 27 games, including nine multi-point outings during that stretch.
The Sabres are now 12-2-0 this season (and 21-5-0 in Eichel’s career) when he has at least two points.
Eichel had his eleven game consecutive points streak snapped in the 4-3 loss in Columbus on Friday night.
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The Sabres still have a chance, albeit a very slim chance, of earning an Eastern wild card.
After 69 games, Buffalo have 68 points in their bank account. They have played two more games than the Maple Leafs, Islanders, Lightning, Flyers, and Panthers.
Buffalo now heads west for games in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
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The Florida Panthers are very concerned and rightly so about the health and well being of their young star defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who was knocked out of Saturday’s game with rival the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ekblad did not return.
Following the game, Panthers head coach Tom Rowe told reporters that Ekblad had suffered a concussion. The Panthers also lost Denis Malgin to a concussion on Saturday night.
Ekblad was hit into the boards by the Lightning’s Gabriel Dumont in the second period and had difficulty getting to his skates. The first overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft would eventually leave the ice under his own power.
Rowe called the play on Ekblad “a real cheap shot from behind.”
"The Malgin hit by Stralman, a good, clean hit," Rowe said. "I thought the hit on Ekblad was dangerous. We'll leave that up to the league to review it and see what they think of it. But when you lose three guys—two to concussions—Ekblad, which I thought was a real cheap shot from behind, but the league does a great job of reviewing those, and we just wait for the judgement."
The Cats will now have to fight for a wild card without their best blue liner in the lineup.
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Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray broke his hand while blocking a shot in the first period of the 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Murray did not return to the game and the prognosis was confirmed following the game.
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