Sabres, Canucks, come off surprising wins (Jan 25, 2018)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks were not their usual selves.
The Sabres (15-22-9) and Canucks (19-23-6) face off Thursday at Rogers Arena on the heels of one-sided wins in their previous games. The Sabres blanked the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Tuesday night, and the Canucks thrashed the Los Angeles Kings 6-2, deciding the issues in the first six minutes.
They were not the results that one usually expects from the Sabres and Canucks, who are in contention to win the NHL draft lottery and miles away from the playoffs.
Now, the question is: What can they do for an encore against each other?
Sabres center Sam Reinhart, who will play a rare game in the city where he grew up, took a realistic approach.
"We know where we're at and it's not just one game that's going to do anything at this point," Reinhart told reporters. "We need to be consistent and all we can do is take it day by day."
That quote masked the fun that the Sabres are having -- at least for a little while. Buffalo has two straight wins -- on back-to-back nights over Edmonton and Calgary -- for only the second time this season. The time they won twice in a row, back in October, the season had barely begun.
"That (win over Edmonton) was fun," left winger Zemgus Girgensons told The Bufalo News. "It's just playing for each other, competing -- the things we should have been doing all year. It makes a big difference when everyone is on the same page and works for each other."
The blowout victory in Edmonton followed a 2-1 nail biter in Calgary. Ironically, the Sabres lost 7-1 to Dallas at home Saturday. But, according to Sabres coach Phil Housley, they are heeding a lesson received from Dallas.
"I think we learned a lot of what we need to do as a team in our checking and our play without the puck," Housley told The Buffalo News. "I think the guys are really enjoying that. They're getting opportunities because of it. We're getting the puck on our stick because of that. We're drawing penalties.
"We've got to continue to play that way."
Work ethic is one thing, but offense is another. The two wins coincide with a rise in young superstar Jack Eichel's play. After a four-point night in Edmonton, he is riding a seven-game point streak with five goals and eight assists during that span.
"When you go through tough times like this, you really find out a lot about yourself," Housley told The Buffalo News. "I think Jack has done a great job going back maybe 20, 25 games where he made a decision about coming to play and playing the right way and playing at both ends of the ice. He's been terrific.
"As a result, he's been on the penalty kill, and you can see his point production and just his creativity in the scoring-chance area has been really solid for us."
Meanwhile, the Canucks, with most players healthy again following a spate of injuries, are also enthused about contributions from their young players. Rookie of the Year candidate Brock Boeser scored twice against the Kings, ending his goal drought at six games.
His second goal came moments after he was cross-checked face-first into the boards by L.A. defenseman Trevor Lewis.
"I wasn't too happy because that hurt pretty bad. ... I wanted to score there," Boeser told reporters.
Center Bo Horvat is also creating some buzz after recovering from a fractured foot that sidelined him from early December until this week. He produced two assists against the Kings in only his second game back.
Meanwhile, much maligned veteran winger Loui Eriksson, who has drawn fans' scorn because of his $6 million annual salary, has three goals and three assists in his last five games. He produced two goals and assisted on another, which proved to be the winner, as he factored into the first three goals against L.A.
But the Canucks still have only five wins in their past 20 games (5-13-2), and a brief comment from Eriksson, who had only two assists in the 17 games before his current run, likely illustrated the fleeting nature of Vancouver's success.
"We take (the win) over L.A. and it's on to the next one now," he told reporters.
