It wasn’t pretty, but the Rangers beat Buffalo 3-2

About the game

The Rangers needed to get off to a good start and they certainly did, with Buchnevich scoring on a breakaway just 28 seconds into the game.

Adam Fox got the outlet pass to Mika Zibanejad who made a great pass to Buchnevich behind the Sabres defense.  Although he was harassed by Rasmus Dahlen, Buchnevich was able to put the puck past Carter Hutton. It was a thrilling start to the game and the Rangers promptly gave up all of the good feelings and momentum by allowing the Sabres to score.

Sam Reinhart scored just 27 seconds after Buchnevich.

The Sabres had a two on one and Victor Olofsson got the pass to the wide open Reinhart.  K’Andre Miller went after Olofsson, leaving Rienhart uncovered in front of the net, because his defense partner, Brendan Smith had fallen in center ice and couldn’t get back in time.

So, less than one minute in and the score was tied 1-1.   It didn’t last long and again it was the Zibanejad line that did it.  The center pressured the Sabres defense into giving up the puck and Buchnevich held the puck before taking the shot. He tied up the Sabres defense and their goalie, Carter Hutton got tangled up with defender Jacob Bryson so Buchnevich had a fairly open shot.

It appeared to be Buchnevich goal, but it actually went in off Lafrenière ‘s leg with the rookie parked in the blue paint.

Both teams settled down after that goal and the two teams played each other pretty evenly.  The Rangers absolutely wasted a Jack Eichel tripping penalty then had to kill a Kevin Rooney interference penalty.   The Sabres have one of the best power plays in the NHL, but they were unable to get much going as the Ranger penalty killers kept them on the perimeter.

The Rangers ended the first period with a slight statistical edge in shots, hits and faceoffs, reflecting the one goal lead.

It was more of the same in the second period until 9:32 when Chris Kreider scored on a wrist shot as he came streaking into the Sabres’ zone.

The shot was screened by the Sabres defender and Hutton didn’t see it.  The only person more surprised by the shot was Kreider who seemed bemused that it went in.  Though they had two good shifts right after the goal, the Rangers eased off the gas pedal the rest of the period and didn’t get another shot on goal.

The ice was tilted in the Sabres’ favor as they had several excellent scoring opportunities.  The Rangers were in a complete defensive shell and Shesterkin had to be very, very good to keep them of the scoreboard.

They finally made it pay off when Tobias Rieder scored on a wrist shot through traffic from blue line.   The goal came at 16:21 and it was again a one goal game.

The Rangers picked up their play in the third period and played a very solid defensive period.  They didn’t challenge much offensively though Kreider missed on a breakaway when he couldn’t elevate a backhand and Buchnevich missed on a wide open net.

It felt like the Sabres were a bad bounce away from tying the game, but they were never able to convert.  They pulled Hutton,but couldn’t get the equalizer and Shesterkin had  great opportunity to shoot on the empty net,but it was intercepted at center ice by Buffalo.

The Sabres couldn’t mount much of an offense in the third period with only five shots on goal and the Rangers had only three shots on goal of their own. Everybody in the Garden and at home breathed a sigh of relief when the final buzzer sounded.