FINAL: BUF 3 COL 5
SHOTS: BUF 37 COL 30
POWER PLAY: BUF 1/4 COL 0/2
HITS: BUF 6 COL 15
BLOCKED SHOTS: BUF 9 COL 16
GOALS:
COL: Gabriel Landeskog (12) assisted by Mark Barberio (7) and Nathan MacKinnon (28)
COL: Mikhail Grigorenko (7) assisted by Matt Nieto (4) and Erik Johnson (11)
COL: Tyson Barrie (5) assisted by Mikko Rantanen (16) and Matt Nieto (5)
BUF: Sam Reinhart (14) assisted by Jack Eichel (21) and Rasmus Ristolainen (33)
BUF: Marcus Foligno (10) assisted by Justin Bailey (2) and Zemgus Girgensons (8)
COL: Blake Comeau (8) assisted by Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Gabriel Landeskog (13)
BUF: Evan Rodrigues (1) assisted by Tyler Ennis (5) and Matt Moulson (11)
COL: Gabriel Landeskog (13) unassisted
LINES:
Bailey-O’Reilly-Okposo
Kane-Eichel-Reinhart
Foligno-Girgensons-Gionta
Moulson-Rodrigues-Ennis
McCabe-Ristolainen
Gorges-Bogosian
Kulikov-Franson
Lehner
RECAP:
The Sabres bye week is finally over and tonight they faced the worst team in the NHL in the Colorado Avalanche. Teams are 6-12-4 coming off of their bye week.
Mark Barberio took a point shot and Gabriel Landeskog had a very nice deflection to give the Avs an early 1-0 lead.
Our old friend Mikhail Grigorenko beat Dmitry Kulikov going around the net and ripped the puck past Robin Lehner 2-0 Colorado. Shortly after that Tyson Barrie one timed the puck in the net to put the Avs up 3-0. This was certainly not a good start to the 1st period for the Sabres.
The Sabres got a power play late in the 1st period. Rasmus Ristolainen put the puck on net and Reinhart put in his own rebound to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Halfway through the 2nd period, there was a scramble in front of the net and Marcus Foligno jammed the puck into the open net to put the Sabres within 1. Foligno has been pretty quiet lately and it’s nice to see him get a goal. Zemgus Girgensons’ hard work on that play was the reason the Sabres scored. This was Girgenson’s 1st game coming back from an injury and I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from him ever since Johan Larsson went down with a season ending injury.
Late in the 2nd period, Nathan MacKinnon put the puck on net, Lehner let out a rebound, Kane wasn’t able to fully cover his man, and Blake Comeau put the puck in the open net 4-2 Avs. Shortly after the Avs scored, Evan Rodrigues ripped the puck past Jeremy Smith to make it 4-3. That was E-Rod’s 1st of the season and his 2nd of his career.
Eichel turned the puck over to Gabe Landeskog who then put an empty netter home to seal the deal for the Avs.
The officiating was absolutely brutal tonight. I saw Eichel get hauled down at least 4 times and there were no calls. And this has been happening all season long. The NHL needs to get their act together and start to call penalties like they did coming out of the 04-05 lockout. The Sabres will face the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night.
