The Buffalo Sabres did what they needed to do on Tuesday night, registering a 5-3 victory over the visiting Vancouver Canucks. The matchup was Buffalo’s first game since its ten-game winning streak was halted in Columbus on Saturday afternoon.
The Sabres remain in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and securing the two points against the Canucks was critical. After Buffalo built a 4-0 lead in the third period, Vancouver mounted a comeback and made the game close, pulling to within a goal.
But as they did many times during the ten-game run, the Sabres closed out the victory and added to their point total.
“You stick to the process,” defenseman Zach Metsa said, “It got us to a four-goal lead. A couple of bad bounces. A couple of plays that happen. They make plays; it is what it is. That’s hockey, but we just stick to our game and kind of just grind it out.”
Metsa scored the clinching fourth goal for the Sabres. The third-period marker was the first of his NHL career. The win moved the Sabres to within one point of the final East wildcard position and four points out of the third spot in the Atlantic division.
What makes this run different from previous seasons is that the club prevented the onset of a losing streak by following up a loss with a victory in the very next game. The Sabres have been strong on home ice in the first half of the season, posting a mark of 13-5-2.
Looking ahead to the next ten days, Buffalo plays five of their next six contests at Key Bank Center and three of those home games are against Eastern Conference opponents in Florida, Philadelphia, and Montreal.
This upcoming stretch presents an opportunity for Buffalo to further close the gap in the playoff chase.
Yet for all the positive steps the club has taken in the last month, the most difficult portion of the road to the playoffs remains ahead of them.
As the schedule moves to the second half of the season, the competition for points will continue to ramp up.
With the East continuing to be a tight log jam of team jockeying for position, the Sabres will need to continue the consistently strong play that got them back into the postseason chase and not allow an extended losing streak to sink a suddenly promising season.
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