BUFFALO – In a grueling six-month, 82-game NHL season, slumps are inevitable. That the Sabres avoided losing two straight games in regulation for almost four months illustrates how dynamically they performed for more than half of the schedule.
But a slump finally materialized last week – albeit a short one – when in dropping back-to-back contests, the Sabres looked nothing likes themselves.
One of the league’s elite teams looked out of whack defensively and struggled to score.
That’s why Monday’s much-needed 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning ranks as one of their most significant this season.
After road losses to the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals briefly dropped them to third place in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division, the Sabres sorely needed a sturdy, bounce-back effort like they enjoyed Monday.
Unlike their last meeting March 8, a wildly entertaining, fight-filled 8-7 victory that vaulted the Sabres into first place, the teams played a calm game by their standards.
“I just thought we looked like the team that had been playing all year,” coach Lindy Ruff said following the Sabres’ 47th win this season. “We got a little out of sync in the Ottawa (and) Washington games. Spent a lot of time looking at a lot of stuff this morning with the group and talking about how we need to play. And I thought the guys put in a great effort.”
The Sabres (102 points) stand second in the division, two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning (102 points), having played one fewer game than the Sabres, rank first.
Winger Alex Tuch and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen led that effort, as the Sabres beat the Lightning for the third time in four tries this season, taking seven of a possible eight points.
“This was a big game for us,” Ruff said. “This was a big test for us tonight, because we knew how big this game was. We knew it was against the team that was sitting there just ahead of us. We didn’t play well in the previous two games, and good teams know how to have some pushback. And I thought our guys had great pushback.”
If the teams meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the series promises to be memorable.
Tuch had his best game in weeks, zooming all over the ice and reaching the 30-goal mark for the second consecutive season and third time in four years.
The Baldwinsville native opened the scoring 5:42 into the contest, beating goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy from the top of the slot after leaving the penalty box.
“I needed to resort back to that,” Tuch said of his skating. “It’s been a little inconsistent for myself. I had a little minor injury about a month ago that it’s a bad excuse, but I don’t think I was getting back to my game as much as I could’ve, and I thought tonight was a solid game.”
In about a 10-second stretch in the second period, Tuch had three prime short-handed scoring chances. Overall, he pumped six shots on goal.
“It was like a rapid-fire chance in the second period where he could have had two or three,” Ruff said. “And great goal to lead it off. I thought he skated incredible in the game. I thought his penalty killing was really good. It was a big night for him.”
Luukkonen, meanwhile, looked sharp, stopping 23 shots and outdueling Vasilevskiy before a noisy capacity crowd of 19,070 fans in KeyBank Center.
“Didn’t have a lot, but had to make good saves,” Ruff said.
Luukkonen said it was “one of those games where you have to mentally stay ready.”
“You have to kind of grind through it not having to make too many saves,” he said.
After winger Jason Zucker put the Sabres up 3-2 7:38 into the second period, like so many other times, they locked down late, limiting the Lightning to just three shots in the first half of the third.
“Just knowing that you have that in your back pocket, and you know that you can score but you can also defend well I think is huge,” Tuch said. “It’s a huge confidence boost for our team.”
Center Josh Norris scored the Sabres’ other goal, ending a nine-game drought. Winger Jack Quinn added an empty-net goal.
