The Buffalo Sabres have been on quite the brutal run lately. The team had lost 18 straight games (15 in regulation, three in overtime or shootouts) heading into Wednesday night’s contest with the Philadelphia Flyers, which marked a record in the shootout era (since 2005-06) and tied the 2003-04 Pittsburgh Penguins for a 21st-century record. But that streak ended Wednesday, and it ended in decisive fashion, with the Sabres posting a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Here’s goalie Linus Ullmark celebrating:
Linus says it all. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/EVWUFOZWvg
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 1, 2021
That win saw Ullmark make 31 saves for Buffalo. On the offensive side, Brandon Montour scored twice for the Sabres, while Sam Reinhart, Curtis Lazar, Casey Mittelstadt, and Steven Fogarty added single goals. Fogarty’s was his first career NHL goal, so as one bad streak ended, a better historical moment started:
🚨 Congrats on your first @NHL goal, Steven Fogarty! 🚨#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/BAPAaJ0OUW
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 1, 2021
This was also the first NHL career win for Sabres’ interim head coach Don Granato, who was elevated to that role when the Sabres fired Ralph Krueger (and top assistant Steve Smith) March 17. Granato had faced some challenges of his own, including a stint on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list last week that left general manager Kevyn Adams coaching the team last Thursday. So this is a cool moment for him.
However, there still are plenty of questions about the Sabres. They’re now 7-23-5 on the season with 19 points, 12 behind the next-nearest team in their division (the New Jersey Devils, with 31 points) and nine behind the worst teams in other divisions (the Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, all with 28 points). And it’s notable that this win came against a Philadelphia team that may be 17-14-4 on the season, but has been struggling mightily this month:
Flyers set a franchise record for the lowest save percentage in a full calendar month (.831), smashing the mark set in October 1990 (.841)
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 1, 2021
So this doesn’t mean that everything’s fixed in Buffalo. But for one night, things went pretty well for the Sabres.
[NHL.com; photo from Mark Konezny/USA Today Sports]
