The Buffalo Sabres came into Scotiabank Arena tonight after losing 4 in a row and 6 of 7. This after threatening to steal the final wildcard spot in the east just a couple of weeks ago. 42 goal scorer Tage Thompson hadn’t scored in 5, but he did have his wing man Alex Tuch returning tonight. 41-year-old Craig Anderson was in the Sabres net against Matt Murray.
This was third high octane opponent for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a row, having already put aside the New Jersey Devils and the Edmonton Oilers. The Leafs went with their now popular 11 forward – 7 defence alignment. They had the upper hand throughout the first period, out shooting the Sabres 11 to 3. I really like following the forward combos that Keefe sends out.
What a tale of two periods in one. The Leafs came out storming, rabid to score the goals they thought they deserved in the first. AM34 piled in some garbage off a Marner rush and a Kerfoot kick pass to notch his 31st. Calle Jarnkrok continued to show his worth as he decoyed Mathews to register his 15th. THEN, all of sudden the Sabres came out of their trance to completely dominate from the 9 minute mark on. Strong on the forecheck, great breakouts and toughness on the wall. During their second power play of this segment, Quinn put in his 13th and the score was more indicative of the play. Buffalo ended up outshooting Tranna 17-4 in the second period !
Tage Thompson has been pegged as one of the “new” stars of the NHL. It showed tonight as he finished off a play from a strong Buffalo forecheck to set up Alex Tuch. That was followed closely by a breakaway (nice save Murray) and a follow up goal by Dylan Cozens to make it 4-2. John Tavares stole a puck to send him away on a 2 on 0 but Anderson was up for the challenge. Keefe pulled his goalie at the 3 minute mark and that finally resulted in a nice individual effort by Nylander to make it close. Close, but no cigar.
HOPPER NOTES: STOP, immediately STOP those “blue bubbled” name plates that appear on the TV coverage during a power play ! We know who the players are – what’s next, the FOX ghost puck ? Disgusting… nice welcome back for Alex Tuch – 2 important goals…Alex Kerfoot does not belong on the top line…the forgotten man: Liligren…somehow (tech difficulty ?) the Sportsnet feed lost what they call “international” sound on their telecast (crowd noise, sticks bashing, ref whistles etc) for about 3 minutes in the third period…boy what a difference…CHEERS !
First..completely agree on those bubble plates..so annoying..save it for the new fans in Alabama.
Not sure with The Leafs stopped playing or The Sabres picked it up a notch.
Keefe called them over and warned them at one point when he recognized the game changing.
They needed the two points last night.
Colorado is starting to look like Stanley Cup Champions again.