The Buffalo Sabres used another complete effort at both ends of the ice on Saturday afternoon to earn a second-straight win to open the 2021-22 regular season. While it was not much of a scoring affair at KeyBank Center, Buffalo still outworked the Arizona Coyotes en route to a 2-1 victory in a shootout.
Despite giving up the game's opening goal in the first period, the Sabres got out to another hot start, outshooting the Coyotes 14-5 through the opening 20 minutes. The hard work eventually paid off early in the second period on the man advantage with a goal from - of all players - Cody Eakin.
While the goals did not come for the Sabres until it mattered in the shootout, Buffalo was able to control the pace of play for most of the contest, ending the night with a 33-21 shot advantage.
In the shootout, Buffalo got goals in the opening two rounds from Tage Thompson and Arttu Ruotsalainen, while Dustin Tokarski was able to stop the final two Arizona shooters he faced to preserve another victory for the Sabres.
Let's take a look at three observations from Saturday afternoon's win for the Sabres over the Coyotes:
1.) "That '70s Line" unstoppable against Arizona
The combination of Rasmus Asplund, Tage Thompson and Victor Olofsson continues to work extremely well for the Sabres through the first two games.
After performing well and generating offense in the season opener on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, the line upped the ante quite a bit on Saturday by pretty much spending the entire game in the offensive zone. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the three players ended up generating a 15-0 Corsi ratio while playing at 5-on-5, and the line helped contribute to nine shots on goal while on the ice.
Despite not generating any points on the afternoon, the three players all contributed to Buffalo's success on the day.
Asplund finished the day with three shots on goal and won 50% of his faceoffs in 17:00 of total ice-time.
Thompson continues to impress down the middle of the ice on the line, winning 67% of his faceoffs, while registering two shots on goal and a blocked shot in 19:45 of ice-time.
As for Olofsson, he led the Sabres' forward group with 21:06 of total ice-time, while registering three shots on goal of his own.
If this line continues to excel and play the way they have through two games, it will be almost impossible to split them up at even strength.
2.) Rasmus Dahlin has his swagger back
There's little denying that Dahlin has complete confidence in his game to start the 2021-22 season.
While his 5-on-5 numbers were relatively even on Saturday, the 21-year-old is looking very comfortable in his own skin, as he finished the day with a team-high 25:21 of total ice-time, a shot on goal and three hits.
Dahlin also helped set up Buffalo's game-tying goal in the second period, as the defenseman carried the puck to the Buffalo blue line before firing a lead-pass to Drake Caggiula at the Coyotes blue line. After Caggiula's initial chance was stopped by goalie Karel Vejmelka, Eakin was money on the spot to cash in the rebound.
While Dahlin was able to earn his first point of the season on Saturday, his confidence with the puck is extremely visible in both the offensive zone and in transition:
Defensively, Dahlin had a strong day, including a great play in the second period when he broke up a 2-on-1 rush for the Coyotes with a great stick check.
Many Sabres fans will be hoping this strong play from Dahlin early on continues throughout the season.
3.) Another impressive all-around effort from the Sabres
The energy and passion that Sabres head coach Don Granato was preaching of his group from Day 1 of training camp was on display once again when the puck dropped for game action.
Buffalo was relentless in the offensive zone with the puck, which resulted in a total of 33 shots on goal in the win. While the Sabres did turn down a few chances to shoot the puck and maybe held on to the puck a bit too long on occasion, the team was able to maintain possession in the Arizona end for a consistent amount of time.
Defensively, Buffalo continues to play strong in front of their goaltenders. After only giving up 31 shots on goal and one goal on Thursday against Montreal, the Sabres followed that up with only 21 shots-against on the afternoon against Arizona, while only surrendering one goal.
Dustin Tokarski played well enough to give the Sabres a chance in this one, while having things very easy in the final 25 minutes of the contest. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres did not allow a scoring chance or a high-danger scoring chance-against to the Coyotes in the third period and in overtime.
With more continued efforts like this from the Sabres at both ends of the ice, this team should win more games than many had expected them to in preseason predictions.
Related
Follow me on Twitter: @BJWilsonWGR
