The Buffalo Sabres, fresh off two big points against the Florida Panthers, looked to end the mini road trip through Florida with a win against the hottest team in the NHL in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Sabers were red hot, but the Lightning came in at 17-1-1 in their previous 19 games.
The game ended up being a fantastic back-and-forth affair that showed us that the Sabers can compete with the best of the best. It took a last second of pressure from the Lightning to get things in order before Jake Guentzel victory for the Lightning in overtime 4-3.
Colten Ellis has been an invaluable pickup
Colten Ellis stopped 31 of 35 on Tuesday night, but that doesn’t tell the full story of how good he was. He was critical, especially in the third period when the Lightning were under pressure. They managed to tie the match twice, but Ellis could not have done anything about both goals.
With the news that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will miss the OlympicsEllis’ performance has become even more valuable to the Sabres. While he will serve as a backup to Alex Lyon, the Sabers were fortunate enough to be able to simply slot him into the lineup without him being cut.
At least the Sabers were fortunate to come out with a point against the Lightning. There were long stretches of Lightning dominance, and Nikita Kucherov was visibly frustrated for much of the third period as Ellis turned away chance after chance.
That was an epic game
That was perhaps the most action-packed and exciting game the Sabers have played this season. Both teams traded chances during the third period and overtime, and it had the feel of a prizefight between two heavyweights.
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After keeping them on their heels for the final few minutes of regulation and ultimately seeing the game bombed from the point by Darren Raddysh, the Sabers took the lead in overtime. They defeated the Lightning 5-1 in the extra session, with the one mistake ultimately costing them the match.
The Sabers have been “The Sabres” for far too long, so it can be hard to remember that they’re in the business of winning right now. The Sabers have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the past 27 games and have shown they can compete with a serious Stanley Cup contender like the Lightning.
The Mattias Samuelsson Revenge tour continues
One of the best parts of the Sabres’ turnaround was Mattias Samuelsson’s revelatory season. There has been extensive talk about how dramatic Samuelsson’s turnaround has been, but it is becoming increasingly clear.
Samuelsson scored the first two goals for the Sabers on Tuesday, giving him 11 for the season. To put into context how incredible that is, he had scored seven goals in the previous 212 games of his career. Add to that the fact that he is +29 while logging the most minutes per night of his career, and his play is nothing short of astonishing.
Samuelsson is playing Norris Trophy-caliber hockey this season, though he obviously won’t draw much attention in that regard. That said, Samuelsson has been fun to watch this season and every goal just takes things a step further.
A crucial three out of four points
While it’s disappointing that the Sabers lost the lead with 0:26 left in regulation time and lost the game in overtime, it can’t be understated how important it was to get three of four points from this Florida road trip.
If the Sabers can beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, they would have all the momentum in the world heading into the Olympic break and set them up for a successful run towards the playoffs.
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