Big weekend looms as Sabres seek to again avoid a slump
The puck management wasn't great in their overtime loss to Boston and the Sabres can control that. The puck luck was problematic and often there's not much you can do about that, Harrington writes.
The Sabres will hit the ice Friday against the Detroit Red Wings in KeyBank Center, looking to stop some rare negative momentum. They haven't had anything remotely close to a slump in the last 3½ months, so this is no time to start one.
The Western New York wagon has fallen a little flat in dropping the last two games in overtime, Sunday's 6-5 thriller in Anaheim and Wednesday's 4-3 grinder against Boston in KeyBank Center.
Both games saw the Sabres enter the third period trailing, revive their fortunes with big plays courtesy of Zach Benson, but give back a tying goal, and then make major mistakes in overtime.
Sabres left winger Zach Benson, middle, scores against Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo during the third period Wednesday at KeyBank Center.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
You could excuse-monger away Sunday's game. That was a young, speedy Anaheim team playing at home versus a Buffalo club on a back-to-back, and taking advantage of a visiting crew playing its fourth game in six nights, multiple time zones from home.
Not so Wednesday. The Bruins, who are normally dynamite at home, were coming off a loss to lowly Toronto in TD Garden, where they had starting goalie Jeremy Swayman in the net.
They traveled to Buffalo late at night, used backup Joonas Korpisalo, and still got out of town with two points even after giving up two goals in a 33-second span of the third period.
It's just the third time since Dec. 9 that the Sabres have dropped two straight games in any form. The first two instances were 0-1-1 stretches, and this is a 0-0-2, so it hasn't happened in regulation yet. But Friday is no time for the first three-game misfire of any sort since Kevyn Adams was still the general manager of this outfit.
Friday will see a desperate Detroit club come to town trying to crawl back into the playoff spot it has owned for much of the season. But the Wings have now fallen out of it, thanks in large part to the big runs of prosperity the Sabres, Columbus, and Ottawa have gone on.
Saturday will see a visit by Seattle, and the Kraken are 4-0 in Buffalo since they were born and have outscored Buffalo 22-9 in those games. That's one of the more confounding combinations of head-to-head stats you will find in the NHL. Jason Botterill's seafaring men have just about slipped out of playoff contention in the West and simply can't afford to drop any more points.
As for Wednesday's affair, it looked like it was going to be another game Benson would will the Sabres to victory.
He took a big hit along the wall Saturday in Los Angeles but still managed to get the puck ahead to Sam Carrick for what proved to be the tie-breaking goal. Sunday in Anaheim, he accepted a pretty Dahlin backhand feed to the crease to tap home the go-ahead goal before Anaheim tied the game with 1:44 left and won it in OT.
And Wednesday's gem was a beautiful deke and stuffer on Korpisalo that was followed by Benson taking a vicious hit into the goalpost by Boston defenseman Mason Lohrei. The ensuing power play saw Jason Zucker's second of the night to give Buffalo a lead for the 28th straight game, a streak of remarkable proportions.
"You want to help the team as much as you can," said Benson. "We've had a good run here lately, and obviously, we want to keep it going. It's getting to that important time of the year."
Benson has seven points in his last six games, with three goals and four assists. His current four-game point streak equals the longest of his career, set Jan. 10-15 this season.
"Obviously, you never love getting cross-checked from behind, but that's sometimes the price you've got to pay," Benson said. "And yeah, I'd definitely do it again."
"I think he's been great. Just don't tell him I said that," deadpanned Zucker, a beast on the power play with Buffalo's other two goals. "It was a big goal at a big time today. Whether he meant to draw that penalty or not, it was huge too, and we were able to capitalize on that one."
But just like in Anaheim, Benson's big goal was part of a rally that didn't stand up. Old friend Casey Mittelstadt did big damage on the tying goal with six minutes left, beating ex-roommate Dahlin to the puck off the end wall and banging it home. Mittelstadt's 14th of the season came in the midst of the career milestone of his 500th NHL game.
The puck management wasn't great in this game, and the Sabres can control that. The puck luck was problematic, and often, there's not much you can do about that.
"It's tough. (Stuff) happens," said Dahlin. "You can't do anything about it. You just have to make sure you work even harder, and if you work hard, good bounces will come your way."
The Sabres have gotten plenty in going 12-1-2 since the Olympic break and 33-6-4 since early December. They need to keep creating more good fortune.
"Sometimes the crazy stuff happens to you when you don't play well," said coach Lindy Ruff. "Even though we played a good third period, sometimes the payoff is that something bad will happen to you. And it happened."
The Sabres could have taken over first place in the Eastern Conference with a win in either game, but got neither. Instead, they remain tied with Carolina. Time to nip this rut in the bud right now.