"Buffalo Sabres have a HUGE monkey lifted off their backs"

1/24/12, Buffalo Sabres @ New Jersey Devils, Game 49

A couple of weeks ago I was starting to wonder if the Sabres would be able to make the playoffs this season. Then it turned into, would the Sabres be able to win another game this season? Well thankfully we got the win out of the way. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey 2-1 in a shootout in Newark at the Prudential Center.

It wasn’t the most entertaining game of the year as the Sabres only managed to get 14 shots through 3 periods and overtime.

However, the Sabres defensive game was much improved. Of course that starts with the play of the Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller made numerous clutch saves throughout the game, including some big saves in overtime which allowed the Sabres a chance to win their first away game since December 3rd against Nashville (when the Sabres had 14 shots as well that game).

Miller seemed to be calm the entire game and didn’t over-commit to shooters which had been a noticeable problem in previous games. Getting Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff back helped of course as the Sabres are almost entirely healthy on the back-end now with the exception of McNabb.

Also another observation I made was the back-checking of the forwards on the Sabres. Every player was back-checking and numerous times players were stopping odd man rushes because of their hard work.

The Sabres got a huge break late in the first period when Jordan Leopold found the back of the net on a very mysterious bounce off the boards near the Devils net. The Sabres actually have a good record when scoring first and when leading after one. The Devils tied it up (Elias) in the second after getting a few tries on the power play and after taking much of the momentum.

The third period only saw 10 shots total for both teams. The game was destined for extra time. In overtime Ryan Miller came up big. The Sabres had their fair share of chances as well. A shootout was what it was going to take to decide a winner. Ilya Kovalchuk was the first shooter of the shootout and gave the Devils the advantage by scoring.

Thomas Vanek couldn’t score, Zach Parise couldn’t score, Brad Boyes couldn’t score, Patrick Elias couldn’t end it, and it came down to the Sabres captain. A captain is supposed to be clutch and Jason Pominville was exactly that.

Adam Henrique went next and didn’t score and then it was Nathan Gerbe for the Buffalo Sabres. Gerbe came in, scored, and lifted a huge monkey off the back of the Sabres. Can the Sabres build off this win? With so many games left to play, anything is possible.

Also: The Numerical line of Leino, Boyes, and Stafford were very good. They will need to start producing though in order to be considered a success.