Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - For the second time this season, the Buffalo Sabres came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2.
This win Tuesday night extended Buffalo's home winning streak to six-straight games. The Sabres have also won 9-of-11 downtown, raising their record to 15-11-3 when they play in Western New York.
The Sabres were fast, physical and all over the Ducks in the first 20 minutes of play, yet they were down 1-0. That was because captain Rasmus Dahlin was called for a penalty he didn’t commit, giving Anaheim 1:07 worth of a two-man advantage.
Mason McTavish scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
Buffalo was fast, they were physical and winning battles, they were at the net and hemmed Anaheim in its zone for most of the first period. The problem was Mattias Samuelsson, Jason Zucker and Dahlin all hit posts, and they missed the net 12 times on 31 shot attempts.
The second period wasn’t near as good, and the worst power play in the NHL scored its second goal of the game to make it 2-0.
After the game, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff wasn’t happy, saying his team played like they thought the game was going to be easy.
It became easy in the third period after Ruff shuffled the lines and the team started skating, hitting, winning battles and getting puck and bodies to the net again. They worked hard as five-man units.
The first star of the game, Dylan Cozens, looked like the player we saw two years ago. He had three assists in 7:35 of ice-time in the third period, and had nine shot attempts and seven hits overall.
The first goal came on the first shift when Ruff put Cozens back together with JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn.
Tuch made it 2-2 on a pure hustle goal started by Cozens. Tuch had Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal out of position and off balance, so even though he was past the goal line, he put the puck at him and kept skating behind the net and out the other side, where the puck was waiting for him.
Quinn and Cozens went back to work, sending Henri Jokiharju through the right faceoff circle. His off-angle shot went in on a goal Dostal would likely want back.
Buffalo outshot Anaheim, 18-6, in the final 20 minutes, and 35-18 for the game.
Overall, the team has won 6-of-7 games and are 7-3-0 in their last 10 contests. Despite that, they’re still dead last in the Eastern Conference.
Jiri Kulich took a puck to the mouth in the first period, and had to wear a clear face shield for the rest of the game. Ruff pulled back his ice-time, because the youngster was having trouble breathing.
Jason Zucker played, but Ruff said he’s still feeling the effects of blocking a shot on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
Buffalo next heads to Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
