Talk about taking a hit to make a winning play.
Evander Kane felt ecstasy and agony on Tuesday night.
One moment in one moment he was scoring the overtime game winning goal against San Jose. In the next, he was literally eating the end wall.
Kane lost his balance and spilled face first into the end wall.
I was front and center in Kane's post-game media scrum and detected that he was favoring his right arm/abdomen area. Kane said taht he felt "fine" was asked about his health.
Dan Bylsma also said that Kane appeared to be "fine".
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"It’s just one of those games that, for them to come back, everything worked out just perfect,… San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said after his team blew a 4-1 lead and lost in OT in Buffalo on Tuesday night. “Doesn’t matter how perfect it works, though, you can’t give up that kind of lead.…
True that.
Evander Kane is the hottest goal scorer in the NHL today.
Kane is increasing his trade value with each and every shift that he skates.
Since December 3, the Buffalo Sabres power forward has scored 16 goals in his past 30 games. Kane now has 14 even strength goals, tops in the NHL.
On Tuesday night, Kane potted his second goal of the game at the 1:05 mark in overtime to power the Sabres an improbable comeback 5-4 win against the San Jose Sharks.
The Sabres erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Sharks, marking the first time the team has done so since December 27, 2014 vs. NY Islanders (4-3, SO).
Sitting in the building watching the Sabres score four unanswered goals reminded me of how the Atlanta Falcons gagged on a 28-3 lead in Sunday's Super Bowl 51. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl by a score of 34-28.
It was Boston native Jack Eichel, whose boyhood idol was Tom Brady, who threaded a zesty sauce to Kane while the turbo-charged duo took off on a 2-on-1 breakaway to beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones for the OT GWG.
After the gutting loss, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer flashed back to the collapse of the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl.
"I felt like Dan Quinn in the Super Bowl Sunday," DeBoer said. "It was one of those games. Thank God it wasn’t the (Stanley Cup) finals, it was a game in the middle of February. We found a way to get a point. But we couldn’t have played a better road game for 45-50 minutes. We’ve got to learn a lesson there. We didn’t manage the puck, we took some penalties, we gave up some odd-man attacks, all the things you don’t want to do with the lead and it burned us."
Thanks, CSN Bay Area
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tuesday night's comeback was the latest the Sabres have overcome a deficit of three or more goals since November 2, 2006 at Boston, when the team scored at 11:11 of the third period to begin a comeback that culminated in a 5-4 shootout win.
Eichel now has scored 14 points in his last 15 home games.
Kane injured his right arm/shoulder when he fell headlong into the end boards at a high rate of speed after depositing the game winner behind Kane.
The Sabres responded to being booed off the ice at the end of the second period:
Buffalo scored three goals in a span of 3:28 of clock time to even the game.
The Sabres are now 6-0-1 in their past seven home games.
The Sabres are now 17-1-1 against the Sharks all-time in Buffalo.
Ryan O'Reilly, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Tuesday, ripped a power play goal to make the score 4-2 at the midpoint of the third period. Kane scored his 15th of the season on a power move as he busted out from behind Jones' cage.
Kyle Okposo's scored his 17th goals of the season on the heels of Kane;s goal.
In the first period, Matt Moulson netted 11th goal and ninth on the power play. Moulson's goal was his 21st point of the season, matching his total through 81 games last year.
Joel Ward, Logan Couture, Melker Karlsson's and Joe Pavelski gave the Sharks the three touchdown lead in the third period,
Eichel finished the game with two assists.
The Sabres rallied from a three-goal deficit to win for the first time since a 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders on December. 27, 2014.
Buffalo improved to 17-1-1 at home against San Jose, with their only regulation loss a 5-0 drubbing on December 2, 2005, in Joe Thornton first game as a Shark after being traded from Boston the day before.
The Sabres also improved to 10-0-1 in the past 11 meetings since a 5-2 loss at San Jose on January 23, 2010.
Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson made 36 saves, while Jones finished with 31 stops.
The win moves Buffalo to within 5 points of Philadelphia for a wild card berth.
Thanks, Sabres PR
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The Sabres have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven home games, marking Buffalo’s first seven-game home point streak since the team went 7-0-2 in nine home games from February 17 to March 24, 2012.
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Buffalo is 12-1-3 in its last 16 home games against Western Conference opponents and 10-4-2 in all games against the West this season.
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The Sabres are now 59-19-16 (.713) all-time in home games against the Pacific Division, including a 13-0-3 record in the last 16 games. No Pacific Division team has won a game in regulation in Buffalo since the Edmonton Oilers topped the Sabres 3-2 on Nov. 7, 2014.
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Buffalo has extended its point streak against San Jose to a franchise-best 11 games (10-0-1) with the win, dating back to a 3-1 win in Buffalo on Feb. 13, 2010. The previous record was five games (3-0-2), set from March 12, 1998 to Dec. 23, 2000.
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Jack Eichel (two assists) now has 15 points (6G, 9A) in 15 home games this season, including 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last 12 home contests.
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Eichel now has four two-point nights in his last five home games.
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The Sabres improved to 19-3-0 in Eichel’s career when he has at least two points. With an assist on Buffalo’s first goal, Tyler Ennis improved his point streak to four games (1G, 3A).
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Ryan O’Reilly had two points (1G, 1A) tonight, extending his home point streak to four games. In his last 12 games at home, O’Reilly has 14 points (5G,9A).
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Sam Reinhart (assist) now has 11 points (4G, 7A) in his last 11 home games.