Playing the Florida Panthers is a reality check.
The Sabres had quite a bar to clear with the team coming off the high of Rick Jeanneret’s big banner raising night on Friday. Playing a game against the Eastern Conference leading Florida Panthers didn’t make that tough task any easier. It looked very bleak at the beginning of the third period with the Panthers holding a 4-1 lead, but the Sabres managed to at least make this a competitive affair as they clawed their way back to within one before falling 5-3. In the end, the skill level of the Panthers was far superior to the Sabres.
Alex Tuch seemed to be especially involved in the festivities to honor Jeanneret on Friday, and that momentum carried forward into the weekend. Tuch was once again a menace in the offensive zone where he frequently hounded Panther players in hopes of a turnover. It’s incredible how far the first line of the Sabres has come when compared to the expectations entering the season. Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch look like a legitimate first line capable of terrorizing even the most talented and successful NHL teams with their blend of tenaciousness, shooting ability and pure size.
Don Granato has been somewhat impatient with this line lately and he has broken it up a few times over the past couple of weeks, including this game. Not sure I agree with that idea. They regularly provide offensive magic, even if they can be a bit suspect in the defensive zone at times. Regardless, they were moving in the first.
The other highlight of the first period was Rasmus Dahlin sidestepping a check attempt from Panthers forward MacKenzie Weegar who, by the nature of the missed check, nearly launched himself into his own bench. Weegar then went full “Angry Curly… from The Three Stooges and tried to exact revenge on Dahlin who made him look totally silly. That attempt also failed and Weegar went to the bench with his tail between his legs. It was an excellent sequence for the young Sabres defenseman.
Dahlin's move made Weegar run into the boards. pic.twitter.com/g00oGiyBdK
— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) April 3, 2022
It seems like the Sabres broadcasts are going to get more entertaining with RJ now currently in his impending retirement phase. RJ was in rare form again on Sunday, regaling the audiences with stories of being hungover in the booth, as well as providing a great call on Kyle Okposo’s game-opening goal wherein Buffalo’s grandpa referred to Kyle Okposo as the “dad… of the young Buffalo Sabres. Fans will need to soak in every moment of this last month of RJ.
Poor line changes got the Sabres in trouble during the early going of the second period as Skinner stayed out too long in the offensive zone while the Cozens line was trying to get onto the ice. This resulted in the trio of Cozens, Krebs and Hinostroza getting hemmed in their own end as Cozens was gassed while the other two on his line were relatively fresh. Line changes are a simple aspect of the game that can become incredibly important if not executed well.
The Panthers would eventually tie the game on an unfortunate passing play between Mattias Samuelsson and Jacob Bryson. Saumuelsson attempted to make a simple pass across the defensive zone to his partner, but Bryson fell while attempting to receive the pass, the Panthers picked it off, and Jonathan Huberdeau finished off the mistake. That’s a tough break for a young Sabres team. They played well overall to that point, but one little mistake meant their lead had evaporated.
Meanwhile, Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski had fought off 19 shots out of 20 to the midway point of the game. Tokarski is often off script with his goaltending style. He over commits to shots, he throws himself around wildly and sometimes he has no idea where the puck is. In other words, he’s perfect for this team of try-hard guys. It’s hard not to like a guy who gives it his all despite not being the biggest or most talented goaltender in the league.
Don Granato’s squad didn’t do a good enough job of supporting their goalie in the middle frame, though. Panthers players repeatedly took liberties on Tokarski by slashing and hacking him while the puck was (somewhat) in his control. It would be nice to see a Sabre take exception to that behavior. Unfortunately, the Sabres really don’t have any nasty left on their blue line with Robert Hagg gone. Sure, Fitzgerald will mix it up a bit, but there is no deterrent for the blue and gold.
Anton Lundell finally capitalized on the overwhelming pressure from the Cats and scored his 15th of the season on the team’s 29th shot of the game, and Anthony Duclair made it 3-1 with his 27th of the season shortly thereafter. The Sabres were purely outclassed in the second period. They were simply not competitive.
The game was seemingly, for all intents and purposes, over before Casey Mittelstadt was ruled to have been pushed into Spencer Knight and Jeff Skinner’s subsequent goal was waived off due to contact. Granato wisely used a coach’s challenge on that decision and after review, the correct call was made and the Sabres drew within two goals on Skinner’s 28th goal of the year. The Sabres then got another fortunate break as Duclair took a slashing penalty and Tage Thompson would capitalize on the powerplay to draw the Sabres within one.
A parade to the penalty box for the Sabres ended the comeback and the Panthers clinched it 5-3. The Sabres are next in action on Tuesday against Carolina.