Blue Line Station
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Rangers’ mission: Get the Sabres back on a losing track

By Steve Paulus

Mar 22, 2021; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) hits Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2021; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) hits Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Skinner (53) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) scores the game-winning goal at 5:47 of the third period on a powerplay Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) scores the game-winning goal at 5:47 of the third period on a powerplay Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /

About the Sabres

The Sabres must be feeling good about themselves after ending their 18 game losing streak.  They could have folded when the Flyers pulled within a goal, but it was ex-Ranger Steven Fogarty who picked an opportune time to score his first NHL goal.

For Don Granato, it was the first NHL win for the interim coach after seven straight losses.  Granato has some Rangers connections as he is the brother of former Blueshirt Tony Granato and is the brother-in-law of former Ranger Ray Ferraro.

Last night defenseman Brandon Montour set an NHL record by scoring two shorthanded goals in 37 seconds, the fastest ever by a defenseman.  Oddly enough, the first one was into an empty net while the second was past the goalie.

The Sabres injury list grew longer when forward Curtis Lazar suffered a lower body injury against the Flyers, but Rasmus Asplund will return to the lineup after missing four games.  Lazar joins  Jack Eichel, Jake McCabe, Carter Hutton, Zemgus Girgensons and Dylan Cozens on the injury list.

The Sabres have the worst record in the NHL by far.  They are dead last in goal scoring, averaging 2.14 goals per game and only Ottawa and Philadelphia allow more goals per game (3.46).   For a while, the Sabres had one of the top power plays in the NHL, but they have slipped to12th overall.  That effective power play is offset by the fact that they have had the third fewest man advantages in the league. Their penalty kill is in the middle of the pack at 795%.

Linus Ullmark has been steadfast in goal for Buffalo with a 2.49 Goals Against Average (GAA) and a .920 Save Percentage (Sv%).    He stood tall in goal against the Flyers to end the losing streak. That means the Rangers are fortunate to be facing backup Dustin Tokarski with a 4.11 GAA and .890 Sv%.

Projected lineup

4 Taylor Hall – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 72 Tage Thompson
68 Victor Olofsson- 23 Sam Reinhart – 21 Kyle Okposo
53 Jeff Skinner – 74 Rasmus Asplund – 38 Riley Sheahan
13 Tobias Rieder – 20 Cody Eakin – 17 Steven Fogarty7

8 Jacob Bryson-  55 Rasmus Ristolainen
33 Colin Miller- 62 Brandon Montour
26 Rasmus Dahlin – 10 Henri Jokiharju

31 Dustin Tokarski
35 Linus Ullmark

This season

January 26 – Sabres 3, Rangers 2 – The fourth loss in a row for the Rangers as Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the season.

January 28  – Rangers 3, Sabres 2 (OT) – Forever to be known as the Alexis Lafrenière game as the rookie scored his first NHL goal to win the game in overtime.

March 2 – Rangers 3, Sabres 2 – The Rangers jumped out a 3-1 lead and never looked back.

March 22 – Rangers 5, Sabres 3 –  A much closer game than it needed to be. The Blueshirts blew a two goal lead in the third period before rallying for a Kreider power play go ahead goal.

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