Sabres shut down by All-Star Demko
Sabres shut down by All-Star Demko
The Great Wall Of Thatcher
The Sabres were not looking for excuses after their 1-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, but they had one as they were stymied by All-Star goalie Thatcher Demko, who made 26 saves for this fourth shutout of the season. Demko, who trails only Alexandar Georgiev in wins, made several excellent stops for his 22nd victory of the season, but his most impressive was a post-to-post glove save on Casey Mittelstadt in the second period and a late denial on Sabres winger J-J Peterka.
Depleted On Defense
The Sabres found themselves so depleted on the blueline in the second period that they were forced to throw veteran winger Zemgus Girgensons back on defense. Buffalo was down three defensemen after losing Mattias Samuelsson and Rasmus Dahlin to concussion protocol. Dahlin was slammed to the boards after taking an elbow to the face from Canucks forward JT Miller, but after the initial call of a five-minute major, the foul was reduced to a minor for elbowing. Samuelsson left early in the middle frame and did not return, but Dahlin did come back later in the second.
Penalties to Owen Power and Erik Johnson lowered the available Sabres blueliners to three at two different points, forcing Granato to move Girgensons back on the blueline.
The Buffalo Roller Coaster
The loss to the Pacific Division leader has the Sabres 1-2-0 in the first half of their six-game homestand, and with a losing record of 9-11-1 at Key Bank Center this season. The most stunning fact thus far is at the halfway mark of the campaign, Buffalo has not won consecutive games on home ice, which is one of the reasons why they are eight points out of a playoff spot.
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