Sabres' long, painful winless streak ends with 7-1 victory: 'Finally, it went our way'
ELMONT – Christmas music blared inside the Sabres’ dressing room as players recounted the painful, tense and confidence-building moments that took place on the ice Monday night in UBS Arena.
Buffalo Sabres' Jiri Kulich, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the
New York Islanders Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Christmas music blared inside the Sabres’ dressing room as players recounted the painful, tense and confidence-building moments that took place on the ice Monday night in UBS Arena.
Rasmus Dahlin, their captain, did not hide the relief that came with their first win in a month. The 13-game winless streak that caused them to plummet to last place in the NHL finally ended with a 7-1 victory over the New York Islanders.
“Couldn’t feel better than I do right now,” Dahlin exclaimed. “We battled for a long time now and, finally, it went our way.”
The soundtrack of the postgame celebration was different than the one that was heard while they frustrated and embarrassed the Islanders in the final game before the league’s three-day holiday break.
Each player on the Sabres’ bench banged the end of their stick against the boards in response to each of their 30 blocked shots. Islanders fans booed their team mercilessly and let out a Bronx cheer to mock their all-star goalie, Ilya Sorokin.
There were roars of excitement following each of Buffalo's seven goals, a season-high through 35 games, and, since most of the 17,255 fans left early, you could hear the elation as the Sabres skated over to celebrate with their goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at the end of the third period.
The scene was in stark contrast to the devastation after each of their 13 consecutive defeats. The Sabres built a 2-0 lead in the first period, pulled away with three more goals in the second and, finally, did not look panicked or overwhelmed as the Islanders desperately tried to mount a comeback. They were showing such little life in the third period that their coach, Patrick Roy, pulled his goalie for an extra attacker with 11:30 remaining and his team trailing 5-1.
Six different Sabres scored at least one goal. Jiri Kulich, a rookie center, had two goals and an assist. Dahlin’s four assists were the most by an NHL defenseman this season and tied the franchise record for any blue liner. Dylan Cozens had a pair of assists. And, at least for a few days, their coach, Lindy Ruff, can take a brief reprieve from the tedious task of injecting confidence into a group of players who endured the third-longest winless streak in franchise history.
“A determined game like that will win you a lot of hockey games,” said Ruff. “The bench had a lot of life. … There was a lot of weight lifted off a lot of guys’ shoulders.”
Even though the Sabres lost Friday night in Boston, 3-1, there were enough encouraging signs throughout the game that Ruff and his players struck an optimistic tone. They had only three shots in the third period and allowed the game-winning power-play goal late in the third period, but it was the first time in weeks that they looked like the team that won seven of nine games to take over third place in the Atlantic Division on Nov. 3.
The Sabres blocked shots and did not give the Bruins much room in the offensive zone at 5-on-5. The 0-10-3 run of misery continued, however, there were enough positive snapshots for Ruff’s players to remember the formula to winning.
The first shift of the game Monday night revealed the blueprint again. Tage Thompson won the opening faceoff, then his line entered the offensive zone and outworked the Islanders. It took the Sabres only 2:09 to take a 1-0 lead, as Beck Malenstyn tipped Jacob Bryson’s shot past goalie Ilya Sorokin. Scoring first wasn’t the issue throughout the winless streak. They did so seven teams during that span. They’ve either failed to create enough separation in those situations or they’ve blown leads, like the ruinous 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche or the crushing 6-5 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Losing leads and struggling to score caused the youngest team in the NHL to quickly lose its composure and patience. The Sabres had two or fewer goals eight times in those 13 games and they had three or fewer in six straight entering Monday.
“For us throughout this stretch, there’s a little bit too much inconsistency where we wanted to win so bad and we weren’t seeing immediate results so we would deviate from the game plan halfway through the game, a full game, a period, a shift,” said Thompson. “I thought tonight we really dug in and committed to play the way we wanted to play the entire game regardless of the score and regardless of what happened. We earned that result tonight, so it was a good feeling.”
The Sabres seemed to lose tough with their offensive identity under Ruff. They’d earn time in the offensive zone but simply passed the puck around the perimeter until a defenseman shot into an opponent’s shin pad or directly into the goalie’s chest. They’d force a turnover to earn an odd-man rush but wouldn’t make the right decision with the puck when they had a chance to score. There were no such issues against the Islanders.
Cozens protected the puck from Islanders defenders near their net, then sent a backhand pass to the front of the net to set up Kulich’s first goal for a 2-0 lead. Jason Zucker hammered a one-timer from the slot for a power-play goal and 3-0 advantage. Kulich forced a turnover, then began a perfect passing play that ended with Zach Benson scoring the fourth goal. Jack Quinn, a healthy scratch in Boston, snapped a one-timer past Sorkin on a pass by Cozens. Thompson scored an empty-net goal, then Kulich helped force multiple turnovers and outmuscled multiple Islanders on his way to his sixth goal of the season.
“When you do the right things over and over again, good things will happen to you,” said Dahlin. “It’s up to us now to keep this thing going and not be satisfied about one win. We have a long way left, we just got to keep going.”
This was also one of the Sabres’ best defensive games of the season. They allowed only five high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, and only five of the Islanders’ 28 shots were in the third period. Bryson, Alex Tuch, Bowen Byram and Connor Clifton blocked at least three shots apiece. When there was a breakdown in Buffalo’s zone, Luukkonen was in position to make the save, like his spectacular glove stop on Max Tsyplakov when the Sabres were ahead 3-0.
Their next challenge is to bring the same speed, physicality, relentlessness and attention to detail every game. All involved understood after their 12th win through 35 games that they must finally bring a consistent effort each night. It’s been two years since the Sabres have won more than four games in a row. If they’re going to snap the 13-year playoff drought, then they need at least one long winning streak and no more long skids.
The Sabres are still last in the Eastern Conference with a 12-19-4 record and 28 standings points. They’re 5-14-2 against teams in their conference and only 6-9-3 on home ice.
“I think it’s more about the process of how we’re playing. And I think if we do that, then wins will take care of themselves,” said Zucker. “I think we’ll give ourselves opportunities to have games like tonight if we do the right things consistently. And that’s been our biggest flaw, or our Achilles heel all year, is doing it for 20 minutes and doing it for 40 minutes but not an entire game.”
Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks will be in Buffalo for a game Friday night, then the Sabres return to the road for a four-game trip to St. Louis, Dallas, Colorado and Vegas. Eight of the Sabres’ 12 opponents in January are currently in a playoff spot. Two others are within a point.
The holiday break is an opportunity to recover physically – Dahlin’s remarkable performance Monday came after he missed seven of the previous eight games – and refocus on the 47 games that lie ahead.
“I think when you go through something like this, a journey that’s awfully painful, when you come out of it you should be a better team,” said Ruff.
