The Buffalo Sabres had two streaks on the line Sunday night, and both of them disappeared in a hurry.
Buffalo came in trying to stack a second straight win after Friday’s 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Instead, the Sabres ran into Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights, a team they had beaten in three straight meetings. By the end of the night, Vegas had snapped both runs with a 4-1 win, powered by a second-period burst that flipped the game in a matter of minutes.
For a while, it looked like Buffalo might be in decent shape. The first 30 minutes passed without a goal, and the Sabres were getting the better looks and dictating the flow. Then the game turned sharply during a stretch that should have favored Buffalo.
The first dagger came while the Sabres were on the power play. Mitch Marner picked off the puck from Tage Thompson at the blue line, raced away untouched and buried a short-handed goal on the breakaway.
About 90 seconds later, just as Buffalo’s man advantage was ending, Eichel added another goal to push Vegas ahead 2-0. From there, the Golden Knights were able to settle in and finish the job.
That second period has been a problem area for Buffalo for much of the season, and it showed again here. The Sabres had control early, but one mistake snowballed into another, and against a team like Vegas, that kind of swing is hard to recover from.
Rasmus Dahlin’s night also stood out for the wrong reasons. The defenseman was playing in his 600th career NHL game, but it wasn’t one he’ll want to remember. He finished at minus-3 and posted the highest expected goals against among Sabres players at 0.76 in 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.
That said, Dahlin has been producing well overall. He has 10 points in 14 games this season and had five points over his previous four games before Sunday. Buffalo will need him back at that level quickly.
Colten Ellis, meanwhile, did enough to keep the Sabres from getting blown out. He stopped 20 of 24 shots and made a pair of sharp early saves that kept the game within reach. Vegas had another shorthanded breakaway chance before Marner’s goal, and Ellis denied both the first shot and William Karlsson’s rebound attempt.
Buffalo now gets a little time to reset before a key matchup Wednesday against division rival Tampa Bay.
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For Buffalo fans, it is another reminder of how quickly the trade market can shift for a player who only recently moved on. Greenways situation is still fluid as the Blackhawks weigh their options, and his name now sits among the pieces Chicago may move if it decides to keep reshaping the roster. [Read more 🡒]