BUFFALO, NY. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Sabres maintained their lead over the Atlantic Division in a 5-0 shutout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night at the KeyBank Center.
Here are 5 observations from their win.
Colten Ellis
- Colten Ellis hadn’t started a game in net for the Sabres since February 3rd. He did relieve Alex Lyon last week in Washington but still, over two months since he last put on the pads and started an actual game. But with a 37-save shutout tonight, you would’ve thought without watch a lick of this team this season that they were hiding the Vezina Trophy Winner on the bench. Ellis collected his first career shutout in a meaningful game that helped keep Buffalo atop the Atlantic Division Standings. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Played Complete Game
- The second period on Wednesday was disastrous for Buffalo, but tonight, there was a nice turnaround. Highlighted by a gutsy effort from Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson taking a nearly two and a half minute shift. That sequence in front of their own goal with just about nine minutes left was pure chaos, and Columbus had ample opportunities to score. However, credit to the Sabres, they were able to scramble and keep the puck out of their net. It wasn’t pretty, but you take that any way you can get it.
Special Teams
- After the game, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was asked about the power-play and his level of concern. He said it’s a little too premature to be worried, but Buffalo hasn’t looked good on the power-play consistently enough this season, and that could be a cause for concern. Their penalty-kill, however, looked like the version we were accustomed to seeing for most of the season, so that’s a trend in the right direction.
Strong Start
- Thought this team, kind of like in New York, had a good and relatively clean start in the first period. They got out ahead thanks to Peyton Krebs’ goal and did a nice job not letting Columbus get any momentum back before the end of the period, like the Rangers on Wednesday.
Sam Carrick
- We’ve been kind of waiting for a more concrete update on Sam Carrick, and after the game, Lindy Ruff alluded to the fact that it doesn’t look good for Carrick’s availability when the playoffs start next week. “He’s week-to-week, but he won’t be there for the start,” Ruff said.
