@boosbuzzsabres
The scores between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens were 3-3 after one period, 5-4 after the second, 5-5 after regulation and...
(via NHL.com)
I can't remember the last time Buffalo got into a track meet with another team and came out on top in a 6-5 game, much less one that ended in overtime. But who really cares at this point. The Sabres beat a division opponent in a game where neither starting goalies played all that well and defense went out the window through the first two periods of the game.
Montreal is a small but very fast team and this edition of the Sabres, unlike many teams over the years, was able to keep up with them. Buffalo has also added some skill to the lineup and it allowed them to come back once again in the third period. Was there anything sweeter then seeing captain Jack Eichel winning a faceoff in the Montreal zone with a little poke, a side-step and a sweet tape-to-tape pass to Jeff Skinner on a designed draw?
(via NHL.com)
The play took all of two seconds and left those in the road-whites with big smiles on their faces.
All of Sabreland should have some big smiles this morning including Buffalo GM Jason Botterill who has managed to reshape this team into a vision more to his liking barely 18 months on the job. About the only thing he might not be smiling about is future contract negotiations (should they be interested) with Skinner, whom he acquired this off season.
Skinner's time in Carolina had run it's course as the Hurricanes seemed headed in another direction without him. The 26 yr. old Markham, Ontario native was drafted by Carolina in the first round (seventh-overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft and proceeded to have a 31-goal rookie season en route to 204 goals in 579 games for the 'Canes. Botterill sent prospect Cliff Pu, a 2019 second round pick and two 2020 picks (a third and a sixth) to Carolina for Skinner, who's a pending unrestricted free agent.
After a slow start where he went scoreless in his first four games, Skinner is on fire with 11 goals and 18 points in 12 games. Those 11 goals have him tied for fifth in the league while his +11 plus/minus rating puts him tied for third overall.
Preseason/very early season estimates for signing Skinner in Buffalo had him somewhere in the $7-8 million range on a long-term deal. At this rate the price is going up with each game. Botterill is said to be a very patient man while he waits to see how Skinner meshes with his vision and so far it's been going swimmingly making for a very interesting scenario moving forward. The first-time GM is still saddled with some dead-weight contracts taking up a ton of cap-space and he already has a $10 million man in Eichel.
Should all sides agree that there is a fit in Buffalo (and most, if not all, think there is) the key, obviously, is making sure Skinner gets paid while also keeping the cap in somewhat in check. Methinks Skinner's price right now is squarely in that $8+ million area and fast-approaching Eichel territory.
There were a lot of pluses in last night's game including secondary scoring, most notably from Vladimir Sobotka who scored Buffalo's first two goals. On the first one, a nice breakout play started by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen who slipped a pass to winger Sam Reinhart on the half-wall in the Buffalo zone. Reinhart hit a streaking Evan Rodrigues who was joined on the break in the neutral zone by Sobotka. They hit the Montreal blueline on a two-one one with Rodrigues drawing the Habs attention before sending a pass to Sobotka for an easy tap-in for the game's first goal.
The duo would hook up again to stake Buffalo to a 2-1 lead as Rodrigues lofted a knuckleball towards the Montreal net. Habs goalie Carey Price got his blocker on it but Sobotka was there to put home the rebound as both he and defenseman Nathan Beaulieu were alone in the crease after crashing the net. The goals were Sobotka's second and third of the season.
Despite the Sabres going up by one goal four times, the Habs just wouldn't go away and they eventually took a 5-4 lead after former Sabre Nicolas Deslauriers scored a short-handed goal late in the second period.
Neither Price, nor Buffalo starter Linus Ullmark played very well in this game and perhaps that rather weak Deslauriers goal caused Sabres coach Phil Housley to make a goalie change as the second-year coach sent starter Carter Hutton to the crease for the third period. After allowing four goals on 32 shots through the first two periods, the Sabres buckled down allowing only five shots in the third with none getting by Hutton.
For Ristolainen, there must have been a huge sigh of relief after blasting the game-winner past Price. The 24 yr. old struggled at times and had a couple of late flubs that could have cost his team the game. Even on his game-winning goal he got caught behind the Canadiens' net after turning the puck over but credit to him for getting on his horse to get back into the play. As luck would have it, and as it happens so many times in the 3-on-3 overtime session, Montreal's shot went wide and because he hustled back he picked the shot up off of the half-wall with some momentum and took it up ice. Risto looked every bit the part of a very tired skater heading into the zone and props to him for teeing one off just before a defender got a stick on it.
Last night's early-game shinny was a lot of fun to watch for fans of the sport, but it's the type that causes coaches to lose a little hair. The fact that the Sabres were able to stick with it and overcome a third period deficit to win it in overtime seems to be a defining quality of this team and the confidence they have in themselves.
"I thought that through the lineup it was good that we stuck with it," said Eichel to the gathered media post-game. "I didn't think it was our best game overall but sometimes you're not going to play a clean game and you've got to find a way to win, and we did that."
It may not have been a clean game, but it was a helluva lot of fun, especially being on the winning end.
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