PITTSBURGH — With the way the Buffalo Sabres have played for the past few months, you both want to make a lot of moments but also keep it cool because we’re deep into uncharted territory with this team.
Before the Olympic break, the Sabres 1-1-1 closeout saw them drop tough games to Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh and coming out of the break they were going to have the opportunity to, not so much avenge those losses but to course correct and learn from. The 6-2 spanking they delivered to the Lightning in Tampa resonated around the league and virtually served notice that, yes, the Sabres are for real. Making up for the stinker on home ice against the Penguins was necessary for playoff angling but maybe for a mental checkdown, too.
It wasn’t pretty Thursday night in Pittsburgh, but it was emphatic. The Sabres beat the Penguins 5-1 thanks to a special teams eruption with shorthanded goals by Alex Tuch and Ryan McLeod and a power play goal from Josh Norris. Owen Power scored for the second straight game and Mattias Samuelsson buried an empty netter.
It was a game with plenty of spice and controversy.
The spice came via a clash between Rasmus Dahlin and Penguins star Evgeni Malkin in which Malkin slashed Dahlin high around the neck. The play saw both players get matching minors and an added slashing major and game misconduct to Malkin. It was a reckless play from the future Hall of Famer and one which he may hear from the league about for a suspension.
“I think it’ll definitely be something that’ll get looked at for sure,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “That’s something that you don’t want to see happen, but the league will deal with it.”
Dahlin was fortunate not to be injured on the play and with the major power play, Norris was able to cash in. That’s where the controversy came in.
Norris scored on a rebound from a shot by Bo Byram that went off Josh Doan in front of the net. During the play, Doan appeared to bump Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs as he battled with Kris Letang above the crease just before Norris fired the puck by him. The Penguins challenged the goal, but the play was not overturned.
“We got some momentum there, a five-minute power play,” Dahlin said. “We got a power play goal right away and then the five-on-three and then we just kept rolling. So it was a momentum switch, for sure.”
Norris’s goal put the Sabres up 2-1 in the second period and deflated the Penguins even further after Malkin’s ejection. The Sabres cast the first blow in the opening period when McLeod scored his league-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season 12 minutes into the game. Penguins forward Ben Kindel backhanded a pass off the wall to Kris Letang that skipped over his stick and out of the zone. McLeod, one of the league’s fastest skaters, took off and had a breakaway from the red line in.
“He’s so good at reading plays and jumped by their D,” Dahlin said. “We always say don’t try to look for offense on the PK; we’re trying to not get scored on. But when you can make a read to go, you should definitely do it. So great read.”
With some stickhandling and waiting and a shift to his right, McLeod got Silovs to open up and slide the puck five hole. Having a player like him with his solid defensive instincts and speed for days, you don’t necessarily look for weapons on the kill, but the Sabres have one in him, especially when he’s able to finish off plays.
“Sometimes you can get in your head a little bit about what you’re going to do,” McLeod said. “I think I missed a couple this year and I kind of wanted to do something else, but I kind of went back to my old move and it went in… I was just hoping he would (open up).”
Tuch’s shorthanded goal that made it 3-1 was one that belongs in the record books for curiosities.
During a pile up of penalties in the second period, the Penguins were about to be called for another while it was 4-on-4. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen left the net for the extra attacker, and the Penguins got a player out of the penalty box to make it 5-on-5, yet the Sabres were technically shorthanded. Power let the shot fly from out high and Tuch deflected it past Silovs. The goal nullified the upcoming penalty, and the Penguins had their own power play continue after the fact. Both teams with five skaters on the ice, yet a shorthanded goal was tallied.
“Yeah, we take pride in (killing penalties), it’s a big part of the game,” McLeod said. “I think you can build a lot of momentum for your team. I think the whole kill as a unit has been doing well and having fun with it. It’s been a good ride.”
Nearly four minutes after Tuch’s bizarre shorty, Power added his own goal when he rifled a shot off Silovs’s blocker that went under his arm and into the net to make it 4-1. Even though three-goal leads are not safe in the NHL, with the drama that unfolded earlier with Malkin and the shorthanded goals against, the game felt virtually well in-hand.
It wasn’t payback, but it also wasn’t meant to be a regular ole game either.
“Yeah, obviously they spanked us pretty good at home not too long ago,” Norris said. “They’re playing pretty good hockey too so I just wanted to play good from our standpoint. Not necessarily get back at them. We just want to play good every game. Like I said, obviously they beat us, so obviously it makes it a little bit more – I don’t know, you kind of want to get back at them I guess. I guess I’m lying there a little bit.”
Being able to smile and laugh after saying that shows the kind of fun they’re having while also treating every game seriously. Fun is the point after all, right? Seeing Norris score again and provide boosts on the power play as well as at even strength shows how vital it’s been to have him active again. There’s nothing better than playing well and winning.
“It’s a lot of fun, the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey,” Norris said. “We get to listen to music on the plane after, always makes it a little bit better going home after a win. It’s hard to describe, really. It’s such a fun group and authentic and just guys being themselves, really. You can’t really ask for much more. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Who can ask for much more? General manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. After the game, Elliotte Friedman reported the New York Rangers will send forward Sam Carrick to Buffalo. Friend of the site Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo shared the Sabres would add defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn from the Winnipeg Jets, a report confirmed by Frank Seravalli.
With the deadline arriving on Friday afternoon, we’ll get into those moves (and any others) more fully, but the Sabres as buyers is the reality because this is a team competing for more than just ending the drought.