Dustin Tokarski had himself a night on Tuesday.
With 45 saves, Tokarski put on an absolute clinic against the Pittsburgh Penguins. While the Sabres are a young team, Tuesday night’s victory was due in large part to the stellar play of three of the Sabres’ oldest active players in Tokarski (32 years old), Kyle Okposo (33 years old) and Colin Miller (29 years old) who led the charge to take down the Penguins by a 2-to-1 score.
The game was a slow build through the first two periods before the Penguins began to dominate the flow of the game.
The Sabres did a good job possessing the puck in the offensive zone throughout the first half of the first frame which in turn limited the amount of dangerous chances that Sidney Crosby had at the other end of the ice. That is, until Jacob Bryson took an interference penalty that gave the Penguins a chance to gain momentum with the man advantage. Bryson had a strong period up to that point by showcasing his ability to box out defenders well on the rush; a skill that was on display against Connor McDavid on Friday. Though the Sabres entered the game with the penalty kill ranked in the middle of the pack, they did an adequate job at keeping things to the outside and limiting the high-danger chances, and the Penguins couldn’t muster a goal with the man advantage.
Crosby looked frustrated throughout the first, perhaps due to his zero points through 2 games with a minus-4 rating which is decidedly un-Crosbyesque. His frustration bubbled over at an odd time after he got tied up with Rasmus Dahlin in front of the Sabres net. He then yelled back in the direction of Dahlin, either to jaw with the Sabres’ defenseman or to complain to a referee about some perceived slight. The Penguins’ first overall pick clearly still hasn’t grown out of his penchant for theatrics even as he enters his mid-30s which makes him somewhat unlikable, especially when compared to a peer like Alex Ovechkin who has no such flair for the dramatic.
The second period started with a Sabres goal that sure looked like Vinnie Hinostroza scored with a tip off a shot from Colin Miller. No matter though, as the goal was credited to Miller who got his second of the season. Miller had rattled a hard clapper high-and-wide just prior to the goal, but he made no mistake as he hammered home the second chance far-side, high-blocker on Tristan Jarry. The collective hustle of the blue and gold was noticeably better than the Penguins who looked a bit flat-footed and disinterested at times through the first half of the game. With the exception of a short-handed opportunity by Penguins’ forward Evan Rodrigues, the Miller goal really seemed to take the wind out of their sails for a large portion of the middle frame.
Kyle Okposo then furthered the Sabres momentum as he scored his fourth of the season to extend the lead to 2-0 on a feed from Zemgus Girgensons. Okposo – now in the twilight of his career – finds himself on a 20-goal pace with his terrific play through the first 15 games of the season. He appears to be a rejuvenated man with a letter on his sweater. As the elder statesman of a young Sabres squad in need of guidance, Okposo has elevated his game and become the kind of offensive player that the Sabres hoped they would get before concussions ravaged his career a few years ago.
Then everything changed. Following that goal, the Penguins would dominate the game
Tokarski made an incredibly timely save for the Sabres as he shut the door on an attempted wraparound by Jeff Carter who attempted to shove the puck low behind Tokarski’s pad midway through the second. Tokarski managed to jam his pad against the post and keep the score 2-0 to end the second period. Tokarski certainly hasn’t had stellar stats this season as he entered the game with a .908 save percentage, but he’s had a penchant for keeping the puck out of the net at critical times. That’s an element that has been sorely missing for the Sabres going back a decade plus. From then on, the Penguins would bring it to the Sabres.
The Penguins came out with even more vigor in the third period as they ended up with a 20-3 shot advantage in the third period.
Pittsburgh had better scoring chances than the Sabres on a Buffalo power play, as the Penguins suddenly roared to live with a renewed sense of determination. Pittsburgh built on that throughout the period as they went on their own power play following a penalty to Anders Bjork who took an obstruction penalty in the offensive zone. That penalty proved to be one too many for the Sabres as Jake Guenzel who finally solved Tokarski with 14:01 left in regulation.
That would be the last one the Penguins got behind Tokarski.
The Penguins continued to pour it on for the next five minutes of play as the Sabres couldn’t manage a shot for the first ten minutes, while the Penguins managed 10 against Tokarski who had only allowed one goal to that point. Things finally boiled over as Robert Hagg and Zach Aston-Reese dished out some fists behind Tokarski following a net-front scrum. That altercation led to five minute penalties to each, as well as an additional 2 minute roughing call to Aston-Reese which allowed the Sabres to temporarily relive the overwhelming pressure put on by the Penguins.
Tokarski was clearly in the heads of Penguins players.
Still, that power play reprieve was short lived for the Sabres. The Sabres managed some short-lived pressure from the Tage Thompson/Rasmus Asplund/Jeff Skinner line before the Penguins came rushing back. Thankfully for the Sabres, the Penguins took another penalty in the form of a slashing call on a Vinnie Hinostroza breakaway which gave the Sabres a power play with a minute and a half to go. The Penguins then pulled their goalie to make the game a 5-on-5 situation and created more point-blank, grade-A scoring opportunites.
Once again, Dustin Tokarski shut the door.
With fewer than 30 seconds to play, Tokarski made a sprawling save to keep the puck out of the net as he reached his glove arm out and denied the final opportunity. Final score: Sabres 2, Penguins 1. Tonight’s game certainly isn’t a recipe the Sabres would like to rely on for continued success, but it was great to see a comeback story like Tokarski have himself a night.