VICTORY! #Oilers get three points from @Landie51 and two from @mfraser25 to beat the #Sabres 3-2! #BUFvsEDM pic.twitter.com/vHfW8DwYHe
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 30, 2015Anton Lander and Matt Fraser each had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers won the the game, but lost two points in the #McEichelSweepstakes.
The Oilers are moving up the standings while the Sabres have pitched their tent in 30th place.
Oscar Klefbom also scored for the 29th place Oilers (13-27-9), who have won three of their last four and now sit four points ( 35 to 31) ahead 30th place Buffalo. Derek Roy and the Oil are 6-5-2 since Todd Nelson took over as full-time head coach on December 30th. Coincidentally, the Sabres have lost a fraNchise worst 13 straight games in regulations since December 29.
The Sabres haven't collected a point in the standings for over a month. Their last point came in a shootout win against the NY Islanders on December 27.
It was a nip and tuck affair. But in the end, the Buffalo Sabres lost 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. In so doing, have "won" the McEichel Cup.
Tyler Myers got the Sabres on the board with a nice goal.
Myers injured his left foot blocking a shot late in the third period. His status is unknown for the Vancouver game on Friday night.
Rasmus Ristolainen scored late in the third period to cut the Oilers lead to one goal.
iframe src="http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=2014020720-758-h" frameborder="0" width="640" height="440">
In the end, the Sabres played an inspired first forty minutes and sunk like a sunset in the third period. Wash, rinse, repeat. Right?
Earlier in the night, the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.
The Sabres won't have time to dwell on this loss. They will play the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
Will we see Ryan Miller vs. Jhonas Enroth?
More to come...
***
FINAL | #Coyotes 3, @MapleLeafs 1 | ARI goals by Hanzal (2) & @OEL_23 | Smith made 24 saves | Next game is SAT at OTT pic.twitter.com/XsCWFuAXCc
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) January 30, 2015The Arizona Coyotes did the Buffalo Sabres a huge solid by disposing of the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Thursday night.
The Leafs lead the game 1-0 after 40 minutes, then allowed three unanswered third period goals to seal their fate. Watch as Oliver Ekman-Larsson beat Jonathon Bernier with this 140 foot wrister to tie the game early in the third period.
The Leafs have been pathetic ever since Randy Carlyle was canned. The Leafs now fall to 4-14-1 in their last 19 games. Sabres fans need not worry about the Leafs tanking the rest of their season to join the McEichel Sweepstakes. They have 48 points, which is 17 more than the last place Buffalo. The Leafs won too many games in the first 90 days of the season. To finish behind Buffalo in the NHL standings, the Leafs can earn only four points in their final 32 games. The Leafs are bad, but they are not four points out of sixty four points bad. Are they? They should have fired Carlyle sooner than they did. Now they are stuck in no man's land. They won't make the playoffs and they can't finish 30th or 29th. Toronto Typical.
Tonight's #TMLtalk By The Numbers presented by @SentryInvest. pic.twitter.com/8L772lNisf
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) January 30, 2015The 27th place Coyotes (40 points) are now five points ahead of the 28th place Oilers (35 points) and nine points ahead of the 30th place Sabres (31 points) in the NHL standings.