The Sabres power forward, out since sustaining a lower-body injury Feb. 24, showed why he is vital to their success in a 4-3 win on the road in Toronto.
TORONTO — After a string of four straight losses, including a pair of games you could argue they should’ve/could’ve won, the Sabres got on the right end of the decision with a 4-3 win against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
As if there wasn’t enough drama with the Sabres’ pursuit of the playoffs, business picked up with the return of Alex Tuch to the lineup. Tuch returned to the top line with Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner and to make way for him to get back in, Victor Olofsson (one goal and four points the past 17 games) was a healthy scratch. It was also their first game after the team said defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and goalie Eric Comrie would be out week-to-week with injuries.
Intrigue abounded and in the end the Sabres ended their losing streak and got back to feeling good thanks to the efforts of a wide cast of characters. But it wouldn’t be a vital Sabres win without even more spice to the mix. The Leafs got out to a 2-0 lead in the second period after goals from Auston Matthews and Calle Järnkrok.
Toronto had a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal after Järnkrok’s tally, but that moment seemed to flip a switch for Buffalo.
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Over the next 17:09 going into the third period, the Sabres outshot the Leafs 16-0 and halved the Toronto lead to 2-1 when Jack Quinn scored batting one out of the air on his own rebound after a slick pass by J-J Peterka at 14:58 of the second.
But it was the third period when Buffalo stepped on the gas thanks to Tuch. His first goal came at 3:39 after from a brilliant pass by Thompson. Cozens gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead six minutes when he put one away on a rebound that began with a point shot for a deflection from Riley Stillman. Tuch’s second came on the power play when he was alone in front of Matt Murray and Skinner slipped it to him for his 30th of the season. It wound up being the game winner when William Nylander’s incredible shot with Dahlin all over him eluded Craig Anderson up high to cut the Sabres lead to 4-3 with 1:02 to play. The game belonged to the Sabres, but it was Tuch’s night to snag the headlines.
“I think everyone notices (Tuch’s) speed and his strength. I think that alone opens up so much space for us as a team and as a line individually,” Thompson said. “And then when he does get the puck, he’s got a lot of a lot of skill and he’s got a really good shot, too. Those are a lot of good pieces that add up to help build our lineup and it’s nice to see him get a big milestone there.”
But it was clear at some point in the second period, the Sabres found another gear and put Toronto on their heels and Anderson was able to frustrate them despite Toronto having a couple of glorious opportunities in the third period. One from John Tavares with a yawning net in which his shot wound up right in Anderson’s midsection and Tavares would be one half of a 2-on-0 with Michael Bunting when Stillman lost his footing. Tavares passed off to Bunting whose shot just missed up high. The Sabres had enough of the maybes over the past few games that you won’t catch them feeling bad about Toronto’s missed chances.
“Tonight, it wasn’t working on the scoreboard halfway through the game but sticking with the process as they started … again, the chatter on the bench, there was no emotion, no extra wasted energy anywhere,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “They were dialed in. This group knows they can score. We’re trying to sell that other side to them and believe in that confidence. Obviously, it came through tonight.”
It’s another kind of win that plants the seed in your mind that maybe the playoffs aren’t a far-fetched possibility despite making things a bit more difficult for themselves of late.
“I think for the most part when they had controlled o-zone time, I thought we did a really good job killing plays quick and supporting each other, which allowed for us to exit quickly and go play in their end, and I think we did a really good job of that,” Thompson said. “Probably frustrated a lot of their big guys out there and we were able to capitalize on some offense and obviously Andy made some really big saves at some key times in the game.”
Think of how things melted down against Dallas and perhaps even for portions of the game against the Islanders and how they weren’t able to accomplish those things. Against Edmonton and the Rangers, they were able to generate loads of chances only to be turned away by goalies having a supremely great game. But this was yet another game against a top-five opponent in which they were able to not get frustrated, stick to their game plan, and ultimately make the other team fumble the puck and miss out on chances. It’s a bit like their last win against Tampa Bay just over a week ago.
Every game is a must-win for the Sabres at this point as any string of slip ups will make it close to impossible to get into the postseason, but games against Washington and Philadelphia are ones that should spur them to step up in similar fashion. The Philly game has all the makings of a trap game, but had they not been shut out by the Flyers earlier this season, it might hold true. But they should be ready this time around.
If they get more performances like tonight from the Youth Movement trio and the pairing of Owen Power and Henri Jokiharju (who were brilliant all game; it may have been Jokiharju’s best game as a Sabre) and they’ll be able to do just fine without Samuelsson for however long he’s out.