After coming off a stinging, last-second loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday, the Buffalo Sabres looked to bounce back against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night at KeyBank Center.
They didn’t necessarily bounce back, but sort of bounced and stumbled.
The Blue Jackets came to town looking to bounce back themselves after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
The Sabres started off strong with a goal early in the first period from Tage Thompson, but Columbus added two of their own in the middle of the period before Zemgus Girgensons tied the game at 2-2 with 0.3 seconds remaining on a tip from a Colin Miller shot.
There were plenty of goals for both teams in the second period for the second game in a row, although it wasn’t as back-and-forth, with the visitors getting the upper hand.
The Blue Jackets came flying out of the locker room with three goals in the first three minutes and 41 seconds of the middle frame, the third being the eventual game-winning goal from defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.
Dylan Cozens and Thompson each answered with goals to close the gap to 5-4, but that was as close as the Sabres would get.
After an uneventful third period, a squandered 5-on-3 power play, and two empty-net goals for Columbus, the Sabres’ goose, or turkey maybe, was cooked.
Lets dive into three observations from the game:
1.) Thompson coming into his own
When the Ryan Orielly trade was made back in 2018, Thompson seemed to be one of the cornerstones of the deal. Since the trade, that hasn’t been very apparent, but he’s making a case for the argument so far this season.
Thompson recorded two goals on five shots on Monday night, along with logging 16:54 of total ice-time. In Sunday’s game against the Rangers, the 24-year-old also recorded two points and 17:02 of ice-time.
The 6-foot-7, 218-pound forward has seen a transition to center under head coach Don Granato, and seems to be thriving in the role. He’s seen a significant increase in ice-time, and is also on pace for more than 30 goals this season.
Whatever this team is going to be in the future, Thompson needs to be a part of it.
2.) Missing pieces
You’re probably reading this saying, of course the Sabres are missing pieces. This team has been struggling to find solid goaltending since the glory days of Ryan Miller flashing the leather on NHL stars.
But that’s just it.
If this team had more consistency in net these past two games, we could be looking at two statement wins rather than two tough losses.
The Sabres have been consistently scoring this season, for the most part, netting 53 goals so far through 18 games. Eight of those goals came on back-to-back nights against teams with young goaltending groups.
Granted, the team still has other areas to address, such as winning more faceoffs and playing a full 60 minutes. But when this team gets a goaltender like Craig Anderson back, or if they add a piece somewhere along the line this season, they could very easily turn things around.
3.) Keep it simple
Remember that consistency we were just talking about? Yeah, that needs to improve immensely.
The second period for the Sabres this season doesn’t seem to be their strong suit, as they have conceded three goals in back-to-back nights in the middle frame. All of the goals have come in short spans of time, as well.
The Sabres seem to forget who they are in the second period sometimes, and tend to back off of the puck more when in the defensive zone. In the first and third periods, they come out with drive and pop, but seem to lose their edge halfway through.
Perhaps this young team doesn’t yet know how to handle a lead?
This is one of those seasons where experiments can be made to determine such things. And who knows, maybe they’ll find hidden success.
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The Sabres will next host Linus Ullmark, Taylor Hall and the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night for the second time this season at KeyBank Center.
Sabres pregame coverage on WGR starts at 6 p.m. EST with Schopp and the Bulldog, with puck drop just after 7 p.m. EST on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
