Regular Season, Game 70: Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres

The front end of a home and home with the Buffalo Sabres kicks off tonight with the Canes on the road. The two will meet again in Raleigh on Thursday night, but tonight is business as usual. The Canes open tonight with a four-point lead on New York for the Metropolitan Division crown and are looking to secure points 99 and 100 with a victory tonight. This is the second meeting of the season between these two sides, the first happening all the way back in December in Raleigh. The Canes dominated that game from the very beginning. Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and Sebastian Aho added three assists as Antti Raanta stopped 32 shots in a 6-2 win at PNC Arena. The good guys lost their last game on Saturday night to the Minnesota Wild 3-1 as Marc-Andre Fleury held the Canes scoreless until Teravainen found a way to breakthrough, but it was too little too late. The goal for Teravainen, set up by Aho, helped to extend both of their point streaks to seven games. Frederik Andersen had a rough night Saturday, so he's getting a chance to get back into it as the starter tonight. Steven Lorentz will also draw back into the lineup, likely for Derek Stepan. Tonight's big for the Canes because they can secure their spot in the postseason with two points and an Islanders' loss in regulation. They will inevitably make it, but it would be awesome to get it out of the way tonight. 

Buffalo has been on a bit of a heater lately, earning points in eight of their last nine games (5-1-3). Their last outing was the only game during that stretch that they didn't secure at least one point, losing 5-3 to the Florida Panthers as they secured their spot in the postseason. Kyle Okposo opened the scoring late in the first period, but the Sabres allowed four straight goals and weren't able to recover. Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson, the Sabres' two leading goalscorers with 28 and 31 goals respectively, scored the final two for Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. Dustin Tokarski faced 40 shots, allowing five goals in the loss. Craig Anderson will be in the net tonight for Buffalo, meaning we're getting Andersen v. Anderson. Anderson has good lifetime numbers against the Canes, owning a .930 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average. Buffalo isn't playing for a whole lot with their playoff hopes out the window, so they're looking to cause some trouble now. I think the Canes are going to be quick out of the gates tonight and look to kill the Sabres' spirit early. As long as they don't make Anderson look like George Vezina, this should be a good night for the Canes. 

1st Period

Scoring

(CAR) 14:58- Jesper Fast (12) (assisted by Nino Niederreiter (15) & Jordan Staal (17))

Thoughts

I feel like I get shell shock when the Canes open up a huge lead in the shot counter early in games without scoring. They took a very early lead in shots, but couldn't get anything with traffic. Tony DeAngelo had a great chance out of the penalty box that was taken out of the air by Anderson's glove. Both teams had power play opportunities, but neither scored. Buffalo almost opened the scoring, but Andersen got some help from the iron and it stayed scoreless. The Sabres pushed back well in the second half of the period, but the Canes were eventually able to open the scoring. The Staal line forced a turnover and Jesper Fast made Anderson look really bad as he buried an easy backhand to give the Canes a 1-0 lead with his first goal in 17 games. I liked the way they finished the period, creating more turnovers to get some chances. It's just a one-goal lead for now, but it was a good period overall from the Canes. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(BUF) 1:21- Jeff Skinner (29) (assisted by Tage Thompson (24))

(BUF) 5:59- Casey Mittelstadt (4) (assisted by Rasmus Asplund (18) & Mattias Samuelsson (8))

Thoughts

While I thought the first period was good, the second period was very bad for the Canes. They generated next to nothing outside of their one power play and allowed two goals early in the period. The Skinner goal in transition was the result of a bad pinch in the offensive zone that Andersen stood no chance on. The Mittelstadt goal on the other hand was a bad one that he probably should've had. It looked like he was guessing the entire way and it resulted in a one-goal lead for Buffalo. The majority of the period was spent in front of Andersen, which isn't ideal when you're trying to score goals. The shots being 12-9 for the period in favor of the Sabres don't paint an accurate enough picture as to how one-sided this period felt. The lines are being shuffled, so it's anyone's guess who will be together in the third period. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 4:10- Nino Niederreiter (22) (assisted by Jordan Staal (18) & Brett Pesce (17))

(BUF) 12:08- Victor Olofsson (16) (assisted by Rasmus Dahlin (35))

(BUF) 15:11- Dylan Cozens (13) PP (assisted by Victor Olofsson (21) & Peyton Krebs (11))

Thoughts

Things were looking very promising for the Canes to start the period. The Staal line got the job done again with Staal finding Niederreiter out front to tie it up 2-2 early in the period. The Canes continued to push after that, but couldn't quite find anything. The difference comes when Jarvis is unable to clear the puck and it leads to a wide-open chance for Olofsson in front of Andersen that he buries. Add a power play goal to that for Buffalo and they were able to secure the win. It was a very disappointing result for the Canes given the circumstances, but the Sabres really outplayed them to end the game. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jesper Fast (Goal)

You'll notice a theme with my picks tonight. I'll start with the only one on the line to finish with just one point. His goal in the first period was simply beautiful. The play that created it was good, but the finish from Fast on Anderson had him guessing all the way. I thought he played well tonight, as did his entire line. 

Second Star- Nino Niederreiter (Goal, Assist)

The second man of the line, Nino had a beautiful assist on the Fast goal after Staal forced the turnover. He threads the needle through two Sabres' defenders and put it perfectly on Fast's stick for the goal. His goal was huge at the time. After a subpar second period, he got the Canes back to even with a goal to swing the momentum back in the Canes' favor. 

First Star- Jordan Staal (2 Assists)

The final piece of the puzzle was the captain. Centering easily the best line for the Canes, Staal made two huge plays on both goals. He forces the turnover that leads to the opening goal, then puts a beautiful pass on Nino's stick from behind the net to set up the second goal. The two assists were his 600th and 601st points in his career, so congrats to the captain on this milestone. 

Final Thoughts

To play the way they did against Minnesota was one thing. Tonight was a different story and it's not one I like to see from the Canes. This was a clearly inferior team that the Canes played down to tonight and the scoreboard reflects that. The Staal line was the only line that didn't get shuffled tonight because they were the only one that played a complete 60 minutes. The defense let Frederik Andersen down a little tonight. The Mittelstadt goal is the only one I feel he'll really want back, but there's almost nothing he could do on the others. One thing that I did like from a group outside of the Staal line was the chemistry that seems to be building between Max Domi and Martin Necas. It felt like Domi always knew where Necas was and that could be something to look at moving forward. These two will meet again on Thursday night in Raleigh. I think Raanta will likely start and Stepan might make his way back into the lineup. They need to put together a more complete effort in from of the home crowd on Thursday.