Thanks, Sabres.com
Down 3-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the Buffalo Sabres made a loud, aggressive statement to the rest of the NHL that they are not tankers anymore by scoring five unanswered goals to salt away a 6-3 road win in their first game back from holiday break. The Sabres were idle from December 19 until December 26.
I would say that the one week hiatus did their players a lot of good.
Especially rookie phenom Jack Eichel who erupted to four points in the third period carpet bombing of Boston. Eichel scored 2 goals and added 2 assists when his team needed him the lost. Eichel did to Boston what Chicago's Patrick Kane did to Buffalo last Saturday.
That is, shock the hometown fans with a third period flurry of magnificence that sent the hometown team to defeat. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Eichel became the first Sabres rookie to post four points in one game since March 10, 2010 vs. the Dallas Stars when Tyler Myers scored 1 goal and added 3 assists for 4 points. At 19 years old, he also became the second-youngest player in franchise history to record a four-point game. Phil Housley did so at age 18 on October 17, 1982 vs. the Edmonton Oilers when he erupted for 1 goal 3 assists and 4 points.
That's pretty elite company for Eichel to join at 19 year old. Eichel now ranks fourth among NHL rookies with 11 goals and 9 assists and 20 points in 35 games played this season. His 11 goals move him two behind Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin 13 in 34 games played. Larkin suffered an upper body injury against New Jersey in the last game before the NHL holiday break when he was slammed head first into the end wall. He was forced to miss Detroit's game on Saturday night.
October 28, 2000 is a day that will live in infamy in the heart and mind of Jack Eichel.
On that night, the then four year old Eichel attended his very first Bruins game inside TD Garden. His beloved Bruins lost to Mats Sundin and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sundin scored two goals for his team. Eichel still remembers that ill-fated game like it was yesterday.
Last April, Eichel and his BU Terriers lost the NCAA Men's Hockey Ice Hockey Championship in heart-breaking fashion to Providence in a 4-3 defeat. The Frozen Four, semis and championship game were hosted by the TD Garden.
Providence defeated Boston University 4–3 to win tthe NCAA title.
Eichel has had his heart broken inside TD Garden in his hometown.
All of that bad mojo changed for the better on December 26, 2015 when Eichel and his Buffalo Sabres pounded the Boston Bruins 6-3 inside The Garden.
The Bruins can be accused of looking down their noses at the Sabres, especially during their third period implosion. A win over Buffalo and a loss by Montreal to Washington would have given the Bruins the Atlantic Division lead. The Habs did their part by losing to the Caps. The Bruins looked down their noses at the Sabres in arrogant fashion as if they were Tank Nolan's Sabres. Their lack of respect for Buffalo bit them right in their backside.
Eichel had 5 shots attempts, had a couple of strips that led to chances for the Sabres and heskated 17:26 TOI in the decisive Buffalo win.
Eichel, Evander Kane and Tyler Ennis played outstandingly together for their second game in a row. The power trio attempted 16 shots on Bruins goalie Jonas Gustavsson landing 10 of them. Eichel scored twice and Kane scored once for Buffalo.
The turning point in the game came in the first period when Bruins left D Torey Krug was injured after skating only 5:00 minutes and change TOI. Krug was done for the night which meant that the Bruins would have to roll a five man D corps. The increased work load on 38 year old Zdeno Chara appeared to wear the big man down. Chara was -2 in 26:18 TOI. He turned the puck over three different times. Chara was on the ice for three Buffalo goals against, had an ugly turnover that created Buffalo’s first goal. Jamie McGinn out-hustled Chara to the front of the net on the go ahead goal. Chara is a shadow of his former great self and the Sabres' speed and skill took advantage of his immobility and penchant for mistakes in their victory.
Eichel, the generational talent and #2 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and a Chelmsford, Massachusetts native, scored two huge goals and added two game-changing helpers in Buffalo's comeback.
Eichel, who set a single-game career high for points, tied the score 3-3 with his first goal, his tenth of the season, and added an empty-net goal (11th) with 1:18 to go during a five-goal Buffalo blitzkrieg in the third period.
Hey Boston, you can keep Gronk. We'll never part with Eichel #HowYouLikeThemApples #OneBuffalo pic.twitter.com/tZikCw8QPP
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) December 27, 2015The Sabres (15-16-4) are 4-1-1 in their past six games and are now only six points out of an Eastern Conference wild card playoff spot.
"I was a little bit nervous jumping on the ice for warmups," said Eichel, who played at Boston University last season.
"But just an exciting game throughout. We made some mistakes. But at the end of the day, it's a huge win and it's a super-nice way to start this next segment of us. Just exciting to get a win and do it in the fashion that we did in front of so many friends and family."
Buffalo bent but never broke entirely. They trailed 3-1 in the third period then scored three goals during a 4:03 span of the final twenty minutes.
De facto captain Ryan O'Reilly ignited the gritty Buffalo comeback with the first of his two goals at the 10:21 juncture of the third period.
Eichel tied the game 3-3 with the help of some puck luck. The Beanpot hero dangled in the right circle and waited for Boston goalie Jonas Gustavsson to challenge him. Eichel then dinked the puck off defenseman Kevan Miller's skate and into the wide open net at 11:00 for his first goal in eight games.
Grit grinder Jamie McGinn gave the Sabres the 4-3 edge at 14:24 when he backhanded a rebound of an ROR shot into the net.
After Eichel's empty-net goal, O'Reilly scored his second goal with 50 seconds remaining.
Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci scored for Boston (19-11-4), which has lost two in a row in regulation. Gustavsson made 23 saves.
"Yeah you go down two goals in the third period, they're a real good team and they protect their leads well," Eichel said. "So it's a huge goal by us by [O'Reilly] then we're able to get another one and tie it up and then Jamie gets a huge goal on the forecheck and that's something that we've worked a lot on. So it's nice to see it pay off. And it's nice to see us be able to get over that hump and that's what good teams do so that's what we're going to do down the stretch."
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