Game 36: No flashbacks allowed

At one point Friday night, the Sabres were staring at the possibility of blowing another huge lead, but applied learning got them over the hump for a 6-2 win against Chicago.

BUFFALO — Whether you’re watching the Buffalo Sabres casually, a diehard fan, or a schlub that writes about and covers the team as much as one can, the past has a way of affecting how the present can look.

When the Sabres leapt out to a 4-0 lead after the first period and held a 4-1 lead after two periods, the prevailing thought was that they’d be better served to get the next goal.

You know, for reasons.

Then Chicago grabbed the next goal to cut the lead to 4-2 just 3:06 into the third period and immediately thoughts turned to the last game in which they held a 4-0 lead after one and 4-1 after two back on December 3 at home against Colorado.

That’s what made Alex Tuch’s tripping penalty 22 seconds after the Chicago goal to feel deeply uncomfortable. But 20 seconds after the Sabres killed off the penalty, Tuch gathered the puck and beat Chicago backup goalie Arvid Söderblom for his second of three goals on the night to make it 5-2 and allow everyone at sold out KeyBank Center to exhale.

“Yeah, it was a huge kill,” Tuch said. “Honestly, that’s a really bad penalty on my part. They’re only down by a couple goals there. They get a power-play goal, they’re down by one, and letting them back into the game definitely is not something I want to do. So, it was a tough penalty on my part, but great kill and I was lucky enough to capitalize on a little breakdown at the end of the penalty kill there.”

Yeah, Söderblom gave up an absolute stinker and the Blackhawks are not a very good team compared to most everyone in the league, especially the Colorado Avalanche, but the Sabres putting that game away after allowing Chicago to creep in a bit too close for comfort is the kind of sign you need to see from a team that’s looking to continue building wins and confidence after a season-ruining losing streak.

“I think we know where we’ve been at and now, we’d like to turn the corner, turn the page and keep going in this direction,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the focus, we talked about the focus coming out of the Christmas break and you really don’t know what you’re going to get after three days off, but I think they just proved that they were ready to come out and play.”

More ahead from a festive night in Buffalo after a second straight win.