Sabres Shine in California: Major Takeaways from a Perfect Road Trip
The Buffalo Sabres took on a daunting road trip the week before Thanksgiving. They started off the trip going to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers, but that was the closest to home that the Sabres would be for a while. The team would go on to California to play the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks, respectively. The road trip was impactful because the Sabres had to show that they could bounce back after an 8-9-1 record going into it. Buffalo ended up sweeping the California teams and currently sits in third place in the Atlantic Division.
No Tage, No Problem
Surprisingly, the Sabres are 4-1 without their best forward. Tage Thompson suffered a lower-body injury during Buffalo’s Veteran’s Day loss to the Montreal Canadiens and subsequently got placed on injured reserve four days later. Without Thompson, the offense wasn’t incredible, but so many players stepped up in Thompson’s absence. Thompson’s linemate Alex Tuch has picked up the slack in his absence, scoring three goals and posting seven points in the center’s five-game absence. Also, Ryan McLeod posted a 64.4 percent faceoff-winning percentage in their West Coast trip, replacing Thompson’s scoring output with more wins in the draw.
Gifted Goaltenders Gained West Coast Wins
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen picked the best time to have his first shutout of the season in Buffalo’s 1-0 defeat of the Kings. In that game, he earned the second star of the game while sparking the Sabres’ winning streak. Then, after going down 2-0 late in the second period against the Ducks, Buffalo’s chance at a win looked bleak, but Luukkonen didn’t give up. Through 64 minutes, Luukkonen gave up just those two goals en route to an overtime win, ending his successful road trip. Facing a back-to-back, head coach Lindy Ruff called on James Reimer to secure the sweep, and the veteran netminder didn’t disappoint. After already facing a deficit in shots and on the scoreboard, Reimer made a save that jolted the Sabres to life. On the Sharks’ 24th shot, twice as many as the Sabres had at that point in the game, Macklin Celebrini, the first-overall pick from the 2024 NHL Draft, ripped a one-timer slap-shot from the right wing that Reimer stopped, but the puck rolled off of him which caused him to flip his trapper upside down to finally freeze the puck. After that save, a huge momentum shift took place, which forced the Sabres to a 4-2 victory.
Zucker Continues to Prove Himself
When Jason Zucker was established as the de facto Jeff Skinner replacement before the season started, Sabres fans were livid. Skinner, who had been a consistent goal scorer on this team for many years, was released due to his abysmal nine million per year contract. Skinner signed with the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason but hasn’t been playing as well as Zucker. Skinner has scored four times and acquired just seven points in 22 games to go along with a plus/minus rating of minus nine. Meanwhile, Zucker has five goals, including three on the power-play, which is tied with Rasmus Dahlin for the team lead. Zucker’s 14 points and plus-three plus/minus rating show how much better he’s been than Skinner, too. By scoring essential goals in back-to-back games on the road trip, the game-winning goal against Los Angeles, and the game-tying goal against Anaheim, he proved that Kevyn Adams made the right choice by adding him to the team.
