Sabres Play to Perfection

Game 50, Buffalo Sabres @ Montreal Canadiens, 1/31/12

The Buffalo Sabres came back after the All-Star break with two options. One option was to continue to build off their win in New Jersey and make the last half of the year something worthwhile. The other option was to play rusty and continue the poor play that has put the Sabres near the basement of the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres decided to go with option one and what a good decision it was.

The Sabres played their best game of the season Tuesday night at the Belle Centre in Montreal for a 3-1 victory. It was an enjoyable game for a Sabres fan to watch. For one night this team lived up to their pre-season expectations.

The Sabres dominated the Canadiens in the first, outshooting them, 11-8. But they found themselves trailing the Habs by 1 and their start winger Thomas Vanek was out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury. That didn’t discourage the Sabres at all though. The second period came and Ville Leino made a great move and ripped a shot top-shelf over All-Star goalie Carey Price. For once Leino was living up to the expectations. Was this real? Every line was playing well. The defense was solid. For the second straight game, the back-checking was superb. The Sabres outshoot the Habs, 19-7!

Tyler Ennis came back from injury and was simply excellent playing center for the first time this season. He was everywhere on the ice. Winning 8 of 15 face-offs and making some key defense plays along the way, Ennis was huge for the Sabres forward group even though he didn’t get on the score sheet. The Sabres are now 9-3-2 this season when Ennis plays a full game. In the third period some nice hard work by Brad Boyes, down low, allowed for a tap-in goal by Paul Gaustad. The Sabres finished the game off with a Patrick Kaleta empty netter.

In between, Ryan Miller was awesome, making some really big saves. That’s back to back games now where the Sabres have let in 1 goal. That’s how this team is going to win games. Gaustad finished with 3 points. Ehrhoff had 2 points. Tyler Myers was very good. Nathan Gerbe and Kaleta provided a ton of heart. Once again Brad Boyes was excellent down low. The Sabres played a complete hockey game. Tonight they will go for their third win in a row and again they will need to be excellent against their first place opponent, the New York Rangers.
The Sabres are 4-0-3 in their last 7 home games. Their last home loss in regulation?... Was against the Rangers. Should be a good one at the FNC.