A hot start couldn’t propel the Sabres to a win on Thursday.
The top line of the Sabres – Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson – continued their sizzling play with two goals early in the contest between the Sabres and Hurricanes in Raleigh, but the blue and gold would ultimately fall 5-3 in North Carolina.
Thompson scored his 32nd goal of the season on a beautiful feed from Skinner who has demonstrated a knack for playmaking that is perhaps underrated from a league-wide perspective. Skinner had a gorgeous feed on both goals as he first found a streaking Thompson coming from the point, and then he sent a net-mouth pass to Tuch from the corner which Tuch expertly deflected behind goaltender Antti Raanta.
Not sure if anyone else had this issue but the ESPN feed on Hulu had an absolutely abysmal sound mix and the commentators were essentially inaudible while the on-ice audio was incredibly loud. At first I actually thought the game was being presented without commentary (which, to be fair, would be fairly awesome. Give us a feed of only ice-level sound, please) before I realized it was just a terrible mix. The game was muted from there on out.
Skinner’s dynamic passing continued to start the second period. His edgework and ability to contort his body while maintaining control of the puck allows him to do crazy things like corralling the puck in the neutral zone with his legs pointed parallel to center ice while the rest of his body faces north-south while looking for a pass. That allows him to make a pass that most of us in the over-30 crowd wouldn’t dream of trying without excellent health insurance. He is really something special.
The Hurricanes would pull to within one early in the middle frame, but the recently red-hot Victor Olofsson once again extended the Sabres lead with his 17th of the season. It seems like only yesterday that Olofsson was on a three-month goal drought, but as his coach Don Granato pointed out, that was primarily due to an injury which hampered him from really ripping the puck like fans know he can. This goal was especially notable as it wasn’t the typical Olofsson sniper shot, but a nice tuck-in goal on a breakaway. Olofsson is starting to feel it.
Neither here nor there nor anywhere, but the Sabres social media team put out a video in which Jeff Skinner asked his teammates whether they’d rather be a bird or a fish, and Rasmus Dahlin had the answer of the night. He said he’d like to be a shark so he can dominate the ocean. The consensus was 21-2 in favor of the birds which made his answer even better. Anyhoo, back to the show.
Cody Eakin’s egregious giveaway made it a 3-2 game. Not a lot to say about that play other than a 30-year-old should know better than to feather a softy clearing attempt up the middle of the ice from his own zone. No matter. His time on the team is short.
The scariest moment of the second period came as Dylan Cozens went hard into the boards and appeared to injure his leg in the process. Cozens plays the game at 100 MPH and he paid the price for that tenacity as his partial breakaway attempt resulted in him losing his footing and sliding into the boards behind the net at high speed. Thankfully Cozens returned to the game in the third period which bodes well for his availability moving forward.
Jordan Staal would even things up in third with a snipe shot from the low slot that beat Craig Anderson low to the blocker side. Staal is 33 years old which is somewhat surprising considering he’s been around since 2006. If you told me than Jordan Staal was 38-years-old I would have believed you.
The Hurricanes subsequently gained the lead and would never relinquish it following Sebastian Aho’s 33rd goal of the season. Tage Thompson has one fewer goal this season. What a world. Anyway, the Sabres have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They are next in action on Friday against Florida.
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Almost exactly a year ago, I became the Sabres blogger on Hockeybuzz. It was your support – the support of this incredible community – that made it happen. As of May 1, I will be moving into a columnist role rather than your day-to-day Sabres beat writer because, well, I can’t do this anymore.
To quote Lili Von Shtupp from Blazing Saddles: “Let’s face it; I’m tired!…
This is a move I’ve been contemplating for some time now due to day job commitments and everyday life. I’ve set myself to a high standard of commitment as the blogger for this team, and I simply don’t have the energy or requisite dedication to continue on a pace that the terrific community here deserves from their regular blogger.
I’m unwilling to adjust my content standard to a lower level, and I can’t continue on this trajectory without burning myself out. I have also seen the negativity of an 11-year playoff drought seep inside me and I don’t like what it’s done to my thought process.
What follows is a massive nerd alert: The experience of the Sabres’ playoff drought has left me feeling a little like Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. He was stabbed by the Ring Wraiths and due to the wound, he subsequently retreated to the Undying Lands after having seen some truly dark stuff. Like Frodo, I think the constant losing has brought out in me a pervasive negativity that is hard to shake, even as this Sabres team has seemingly turned a corner and become a more cohesive group.
Unlike Frodo, though, I’ll still have Wi-Fi and I will continue to be the beat writer until the end of the regular season, and after that, I will be a columnist on this site. I feel I still have a lot to say. I just can’t say it every day anymore. Once again, I would like to thank each and every reader, all the insane (in the best way) posters, former blogger Mike Pachla, and Eklund for this incredible experience over the past year.
Eklund and I will be working together in the near future to select your next Sabres beat writer and I have no doubt that we will find an excellent candidate who will continue the tradition of Sabres coverage that you have come to expect.
This isn’t the end. It’s a new beginning.
Thank you all, for everything.
-Hank Balling IV (aka J Crag Crumple)