Game 55: Back from break, Sabres resume winning

Buffalo's 8-2 win against the New York Rangers gave them their fifth win in the past six games.

BUFFALO — It may have been two weeks ago the Buffalo Sabres last played a game, and you may have forgotten it was a loss in Nashville that ended a four-game win streak. The concern with potentially figuring things out and then going on an extended break is that the areas that have improved will be forgotten and it’ll be like starting all over again.

You could also argue that if there was one team in the NHL that would benefit the most from a do-over based on how things started that the Sabres would absolutely be that team.

Coming out of a two-week stoppage and putting an eight spot on a staggering New York Rangers team in an 8-2 win at home for their fifth win in six games only hammered the point home that maybe, just maybe, the Sabres have found what they’ve been looking for since before training camp.

For the first time in ages, the Sabres had a lineup that best resembled what they envisioned going into the season. Jordan Greenway and Mattias Samuelsson returned from injuries and Greenway in particular made a huge impact in the game. They got two goals each from Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Ryan McLeod and three-point nights from Thompson, Dahlin, and Jason Zucker (three assists). They also chased all-world Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin from the game after they put five goals past him in the first period.

“All week in practice, as you guys probably saw, we were looking to get up and down the rink a lot, play quick,” Greenway said. “I think that’s a big strength of our game, and we said, ‘Let’s go out here, transition quick, get the puck going, don’t let them set up. Just keep them on their heels all game, especially in the first 10 minutes, try to run them out of the building, and we executed it pretty well.”

It was a rout and even if it appeared that it might get into scary hours again for the Sabres in the second period, they made sure that didn’t happen and put the game away for good in the third.

“Everybody wants to step up and everybody's working hard,” Dahlin said. “For us, it’s just wins. We just have to build and get better every day because we need the wins.”

More ahead on a blowout win, another game chasing out one of the best goalies in the game, and a blanching look at where the Sabres sit with a daunting schedule in front of them.