California Sweep Keeps Sabres In The Eastern Mix

The Buffalo Sabres did what they needed to do on the California leg of their four-game road swing. After an overtime loss to Washington, Buffalo swept the Golden State, shutting out the San Jose Sharks, winning a wild 7-6 affair in Anaheim, and breaking out the broom with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings Saturday.  

Buffalo’s top two snipers accounted for all three tallies, with Jack Quinn notching his eighth of the season, and Tage Thompson scoring his club-leading ninth and 10th goals of the year; the latter snapping a 2-2 tie late in the third. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves for his first win in over two weeks, and the victory moved the Sabres to 7-4-3 (17 points) on the season.

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“(It was) a good road trip, we played some good hockey. There’s areas we still want to improve, but there were a lot of good things. The power play got a couple big goals.” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “You look at the power play. the zone time, our entries. The loose-puck recovery by Östlund on the goal tonight was huge. The play that Quinn made to find (Tage). You put the work in, and we’re starting to see results.”

Earning seven of a possible eight points helped the Sabres rebound at the end of a mediocre first month. Buffalo has 17 points, just four behind first place Boston in the Atlantic Division and two behind third place Ottawa. With the exception of the Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, who are 11-2-2 (24 points), there are a dozen teams in the East within six points of each other. 

That fact puts more importance on the Sabres compiling points when they return home for a four game homestand, starting with the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. 

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