For the first time since January 2023, the Sabres have won four games in a row after a 3-2 win against Columbus.
BUFFALO — It’s been a discussion-filled couple of days surrounding the Buffalo Sabres thanks to the lack of response they had after Tage Thompson was knocked out of Sunday’s game against New Jersey and missed Tuesday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
You may recall the message after the game against the Devils was that the lack of response for that hit was because the Sabres wanted to secure the win and getting that instead of payback for their top scorer being taken out by a dirty hit was the priority. Coach Lindy Ruff was mad as hell, players were muted more or less about their lack of response, but two points were secured and that’s that, right?
Well…
Ahead of Tuesday’s game, the discussion was far different. Both Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens divulged after morning skate that there was a meeting on Monday about that lack of team response for Thompson and under no uncertain terms, it was made clear that that cannot ever happen again. Not standing up for a team leader and, again, looking like a team that will shy away from any and all physical bullying is something that just couldn’t happen.
“You have more than one moment like that in a year usually,” Ruff said Tuesday morning. “We’ve had several. Really, it is about growing. They’re important. It’s important when you have meetings about games where you get blown out or when you’re giving up all kinds of terrible goals, it’s about growing together. The only way to get better is learn from where you’ve been.”
When the starting lineups were filled out ahead of Tuesday’s game, the Blue Jackets—who entered the game missing roughly five key players—started a line that featured their toughest and most physical forward Mathieu Olivier. Since the home team gets to choose how to counter, the Sabres’ 11 forward-7 defense lineup gave Ruff the chance to put blue liner Dennis Gilbert out to start and what seemed more than obvious what would happen, did three seconds into the game when Gilbert and Olivier chucked fists.
“Fight was, I mean, I’d rather have a fight that means something,” Ruff said. “I mean, really. I mean, great on Gibby. I don’t know if they had something in mind, their squad, I had no idea, but I wasn’t going to take a chance.”
It wasn’t just the fight that happened, there was the game, too, and we’ll get into that as well just ahead…
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Neither Olivier nor the Blue Jackets were the ones who injured Thompson and forced the Sabres to look within themselves, but they were the next team up and the Sabres had to show, somehow, that they’re not going to be pushed around.
“It was a message that (Gilbert) wanted to send, that what happened last game is not going to happen again,” Tuch said. “Doesn’t even matter. He’s a team-first guy, he’ll do anything for the guys and everyone in here knows it. To be able to do that, I mean, that’s tough. It’s not easy. And a lot of respect.”
Whether you approved of the fight or not or felt it was an empty gesture or a sign of a team that does care, it happened. It also showed that a lot of what we heard on Sunday were the words of a team that knew they blinked when they shouldn’t have and a coach that was so beside himself over it he made sure to take all the bullets he knew were coming for the team after the game.
Hearing what Ruff said Tuesday morning and being as plain as he can about the Monday meeting was a helpful eye-opener for all of us. We knew he couldn’t have been pleased with the team’s response to what happened to Thompson. And, yes, Stefan Noesen getting kicked out of the game didn’t allow the Sabres the chance to get hockey’s version of vengeance, but it clearly incensed Ruff that nothing happened.
Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News asked Ruff following the win over Columbus if he regretted not putting Gilbert out again in the third period after Thompson was knocked out. Even his reply to that question was fascinating.
“I’m not going to discuss what I thought… I did have a master plan though,” Ruff said.
Tongue in cheek there with the last part, perhaps, but there’s no chance in hell that the guy who coached the team that watched Ryan Miller get steamrolled and do nothing in response was going to take a similar instance lightly. And even though Gilbert held his own against Olivier (who I’d imagine most people would judge that he won the fight), just doing it was enough to galvanize the group for a night. It didn’t lead them to take the game in blowout fashion by any means, but the effort against the Blue Jackets was decidedly one of their most grown-up games of the year.
Buffalo got the first period lead on a goal from Bo Byram after Jason Zucker’s initial shot was blocked. The puck slid right to Byram who hammered it under Elvis Merzlikins’ armpit.
Columbus got it back early in the second when Kent Johnson in a one-on-one slammed on the brakes and wheeled around with a backhand that whistled past James Reimer. It was a goal that was cool as hell to watch and after the game, Reimer said it was one you just have to tip your cap on. The snow from the hard stop obscured Reimer’s vision and he said by the time he saw the puck it was right on him. Cool goals get dap, that’s how it works.
But rather than blanch at giving up the lead, Tuch got to work.
Gilbert set up Tuch with a terrific shot-pass at the blue line as Tuch drove to the net where he tipped it past Merzlikins for a 2-1 lead. Then, with just over a minute to go in the second, Tuch deflected a blue line shot by Rasmus Dahlin past Merzlikins to make it 3-1 headed into the third.
It was in the final period that Buffalo looked like a grown-up team. They weren’t in a hurry to push for another goal, per se, but they weren’t making life easy on Columbus either. They forechecked strong and forced the Blue Jackets to dump the puck in almost every time they tried to head up ice. In turn, the Sabres were able to classically get pucks in deep and go to work that way.
It was by no means exciting to watch, not in the least, but the Blue Jackets were unable to do what many other teams have done when the Sabres attempted to do this earlier in the year. That is until they cut the lead to 3-2 coming out of a TV timeout when Damon Severson fired a pass across the crease to Ivan Provorov who drove the far post with Tuch on his hip. Tuch thought he had him covered up but the puck took a bounce off Provorov and into the net with 7:22 to play.
Columbus pushed a little harder and were able to work the puck around in the Sabres zone more often, but they were kept to the outside. Even though zone time can be the enemy in these late-game situations, the Blue Jackets didn’t really threaten and when they did, Reimer was there.
Sure, the Jackets outshot the Sabres 9-1 in the third period, but we love score effects, don’t we? What’s important here for Buffalo is they didn’t back down or back in, the stood tall and handled their business once again.
“I think it’s just a commitment to details, too,” Tuch said. “It’s being sure of ourselves. I think early in the year we weren’t sure of ourselves. We were second-guessing plays and not sure. Once teams start getting a few come-from-behind wins on you, that’s when the doubt starts creeping in your mind. Being able to do this a couple nights in a row here, I think it’s really big for our team here.”
Getting a fourth win in a row is a big deal for this group. They’d had numerous other chances to do that only to be rebuffed and collapse into a funk afterwards. The last time the Sabres won that many in a row was January 2023 when they won five straight. They’re a team that’s playing a lot better despite all of this drama and all of the learning moments and all of this kind of shock treatment of behaving like a real team and not a collection of young guys getting blindsided by NHL hardships.
They’ve won five of the past seven games and while it’s not quite what they’ve needed to get out of the Eastern Conference basement, winning on Tuesday without Thompson, Mattias Samuelsson (lower-body injury likely after blocking a shot late against the Devils), Tyson Kozak (sick, down seven pounds according to Ruff), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who left morning skate a little early (Ruff said he’s hopeful it’s day-to-day – gulp) and Beck Malenstyn who left Tuesday night’s game with back spasms shutting him down means something.
We’re certainly not going to embrace a discussion about getting into the playoff picture here, you just want to see this group find their way and figure more things out to carry them forward into the future… even if that future is still cloudy at best for how it’ll play out.
Felix Sandström was recalled from Rochester to backup and with the AHL on all-star break, he had to fly in from where he was to get to Buffalo. Injuries are never good, but the timing of this one—if it’s a problem for Luukkonen—it becomes a problem for Finland as well for Four Nations Face-Off. Even though that tournament is very important to Luukkonen, the Sabres probably wouldn’t be too upset if he has to take two weeks off to get well and get some deserved time off.
Isak Rosén was recalled from Rochester as well to take Thompson’s place in the lineup. He started the night on a line with J-J Peterka and Jiri Kulich, but finished the game with 11:46 TOI, three shot attempts in all situations and one shot on goal. He was also a minus-1 if you care about that, too.