Buffalo continues its road dominance by beating Nashville 5-3 with a short-handed tally by Captain Okposo and the first score of the game was Mr. Skinner’s who put on a clinic on how to deke a goaltender out of position and slide the puck in the net.
The first period ended tied at one with Buffalo having two power plays and getting shots through just not through the goaltender and outshot the Predators by a three-to-one ratio.
Two minutes into the second period Nashville is pressuring and buzzing all around Mr. Luukkonen when Mr. Quinn gets a hold of the puck and backhands it to the blueline where Mr. Cozens and Mr. Peterka are behind four Predators for a two on one odd man rush.
At the blue line, Mr. Cozens corrals the puck to Mr. Peterka who gives it back to Mr. Cozens who proceeds straight down Main Street mostly uninterrupted and snaps a greasy hotshot that beats Mr. Soros top left corner for the 2-1 Buffalo lead.
Minutes later Nashville “pushes” the goaltender and puck into the net and the review determines the call on the ice stands “no goal”. The Predators are penalized for goaltender interference and with this power play the Sabres take a two-goal lead with Mr. Olofsson’s iron-clanging 17th of the season.
There were less than five minutes remaining in the second period when Nashville scored two quick ones in 40 seconds to tie the game at three then proceeded to earn another penalty which carried over into the third period.
Nearly seven minutes into the third period with Mr. Jost penalized, Nashville outshooting Buffalo, and on the power play, it is Captain Okposo skating to the net receiving a pass from Mr. Lyubushkin, and deflecting the puck through his legs scoring short-handed for the 4-3 lead.
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, Mr. Quinn makes a great pass from our zone to once again spring a two on one odd man rush with Mr. Peterka and Mr. Cozens but Nashville is able to get back and disrupt the play.
Nashville recovers the puck but their blind pass from the corner is scooped up by Mr. Quinn who skates from one side of the faceoff circle to the other before dropping to his knee releasing the shot for the score and recovering Buffalo’s two-goal lead and a Sabres 5-3 win.
The Sabres take on the Panthers at home tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock before heading out to Chicago for Tuesday night’s Reverse Retro sweater game versus the Blackhawks.
Buffalo Winter 