8th Consecutive Victory
Sabres 6 – Sharks 3 Sabres Captain (D) Dahlin with (C) McLeod each earning three assists, Sabres (RW) Quinn earned his first NHL hat trick and an assist, as Buffalo increased its division lead to four points over Tampa Bay, this is the first time in Buffalo Sabres history that they have had multiple 8 game winning steaks during one season.
When the Sharks (C) Celebrini scored to cut the score to 2-1 it was his 90th point so far this season, ranking him behind only teenagers Gretzky & Crosby in how fast it took a teenager to reach this plateau.
Then there was the violence, first the newcomer (D) Stanley fought one of his former Western Conference foes five and a half minutes into the first period, then Sabres (LW) Malentsyn pasted Sharks Golden Child (C) Celebrini with a check along the boards that planted the teenager on his keester, of course a fight ensued which is what happens when you flatten your opponent’s superstar.
Four minutes into the second period San Jose (D) Orlov took a cheap shot diving at Sabres (C) Thompson’s legs taken him down causing an uncomfortable flip to the ice which brought Sabres (LW) Benson over and he literally jumped on and put the Sharks player in a head lock removing his helmet, Sabres (C) Thompson got up uninjured and assisted his teammate who stood up for him ultimately giving the Sharks a power play.
A minute after those penalties were handed out Sabres (LW) Malenstyn skated through two San Jose defenders to get in on the Sharks goaltender and scored putting Buffalo up 3-1, four minutes later Sabres (LW) Zucker scored his 20th of the season giving Buffalo the 4-1 lead.
During the third period Sabres (RW) Quinn scored his third goal complements of his linemates (LW) Zucker and (C) McLeod who unselfishly dangled and passed enough during an empty net to ensure their teammate was able to get his first career NHL hat trick and the 6-3 score which Buffalo defended for the game’s final few minutes.
Tomorrow, Thursday night at seven o’clock EST, the Atlantic Division leading Buffalo Sabres (86 points) host the Metropolitan Division’s fifth place Washington Capitals (71 points) a team that is six games over 500% with a positive 12 goal differential but are not even close to being on the playoff bubble.
Buffalo Winter 