It's beginning to feel like 2006 all over again in Buffalo where the current Sabres team is beginning to capture the hearts and minds of it's fans by winning hockey games in dramatic fashion.
The 2018-19 Sabres bear a lot of resmeblance to the playoff teams of 2005-06. back in the day, Lindy Ruff's Sabres were young, skilled, brash and had a never say day attitude. Phil Housley's Sabres are young, super talented, confident and have guts. Drury, Briere, Pominville, Roy, Kotalik, Afinogenov, McKee, Campbell, and Miller played a swashbucklinbg style that caught the post-lockout NHL by storm. The 2018-19 Sabres feature Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, Okposo, Sheary, Dahlin, Ristolainen, McCabe, Dahlin, Hutton and Ullmark.
All things old are new again.
Jason Pominville is the the greatest common denominator between the cardiac kid Sabres of 2005-06 and the pesky Sabres of 2017-18.
Like the 2005-06 Sabres, these Crossed Swords are a tight-knit unit whose individual players are accountable to one another. Housley's Sabres are extremely close to one another.
Ruffs's Sabres had a flair for the dramatic. Housley's Sabres are equally as intoxicating .
No lead is safe against the Sabres.
On Thursday night, the Sabres treated their fans to some tasty home cooking. For the first time in two weeks, Sabres fans got to see their team play live in person and the team didn't disappoint. Fresh off a ball buster of a five-game western road trip in which they won three out of five game against legit Western Conference teams, the Sabres continued their winning ways.
With Canadiens forward Joel Armia, a former first round draft choice of the Sabres, in the penalty box for tripping, Kyle Okposo scored a power play goal with 1:01 left to play to give his team a dramatic 4-3 come from behind win against the Montreal Canadiens. The game winning goal was Okposo's second goal of the season.
Thanks, Sabres.com
The Sabres have now won three games in a row. They defeated Los Angeles last Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday night.
The Sabres are showing real signs of growth and development this season after finishing dead last in the NHL standings last season.
With a 6-4 record, the Sabres are off to their best start through the first 10 games of a season since they began the 2011-12 campaign with a 6-4-0 record.
The Sabres fought back and squashed three deficits to win. It was the first time the Sabres have erased three one goal deficits since January 24, 2017, in a 5-4 win at Nashville.
Jason Pominville, 35, has found the fountain of youth in Buffalo. The veteran channeled his inner ghost of 2006 Sabres and scored two goals against Les Habitante, scoring his 27th career multi-goal game and his first since October 12, 2017 at San Jose. Pominville has scored 3G,3A in his last five games.
After the game, I spoke with Pominville. We spoke winnning ways his team is experiencing in the first three weeks of the season. Pominville told me "the buzz in the building is great. It does remind me of the teams we had back then (2005-2006)".
Pominville told me he takes great pride in achieving scoring plateaus with #Sabres He said to be considered among the best in team history is an honor
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 26, 2018
#Sabres Jason Pominville celebrates Kyle Okposo's game winning goal against the #Canadiens pic.twitter.com/H7mFqNnyOB
— Harry Scull Jr (@hsjrphoto) October 26, 2018
Pominville told me “We didn’t get the start we wanted after the long trip out west but we started skating in the second period and we starting making plays…
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 26, 2018
Pominville’s second goal of the game versus Montreal was his 497th point as a member of the Sabres, tying Thomas Vanek to rank 10th in Sabres franchise history.
The goal also tied Pominville with Dale Hawerchuk for 14th on Buffalo's all-time leader board in power-play goals (48).
Jason Pominville told me the buzz in the building tonight reminds him of 2006 when he Vanek, Drury, Miller and the gang were winning.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 26, 2018
Defenseman Jake McCabe chipped in two assists against the Habs and now has a goal and four assists in his last five games, marking the best five-game stretch of his career. McCabe is a disciple of the Phil Housley school of modern defenseman where the rear guards slam the walls and join the rush. McCabe was Phil Housley's captain for Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championships.
With three assists, Jeff Skinner extended his point streak to five games (4G,4A).
Samson Reinhart's first goal of the season tied the game 3-3.
Defenseman Jake McCabe had 2 assists and 7 shot attempts for the Sabres.
Carter Hutton made 19 saves for the win.
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The Buffalo Sabres are back on home ice tonight. The upstart Sabres finished a grueling Western Conference roadies with a respectable 3-2 record. The trip featured wins against the Arizona Coyotes, LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks. The Sabre losses came at the hands of Stanley Cup contenders the Vegas Giolden Knights and San Jose Sharks.
The Sabres finally get to play an Eastern Conference foe in the Montreal Candiens.
A win or OT loss tonight will give the Sabres their best start through the first 10 games of a season since they began the 2011-12 campaign with a 6-4-0 record.