Buffalo Sabres bounce back with 2-1 victory over Florida Panthers in Overtime -NHL Update
After a disappointing loss against Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4, in overtime on Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres bounced back to takedown the Florida Panthers, 2-1, in OT on Friday night, December 9, 2011, at the sold-out First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York,
United States.
"It wasn't a pretty one, but we got it done against a team that was going really well," Jason Pominville said about potting the game-winning goal in OT. "We talked about trying not to hand them opportunities by giving pucks away, and we were better with
the puck. You want to generate more, but at the same time I thought we stuck with it."
Derek Roy scored his seventh of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with 2:10 remaining in the opening period which proved to be crucial for the Sabres survival as they failed to score anymore in regulation after that.
Ryan Miller was back in the net for Buffalo and faced 23 shots on his net and blocked 22 of them for a near shutout while Scott Clemmensen fell short on two for a total of 18 saves.
"It was disappointing we lost, but the disappointment we feel is positive," said Clemmensen, who had been in the net for the third time in the past four for Florida’s main goalie, Jose Theodore.
Jason Garrison levelled the match with less than five minutes to go in the second period on back-to-back Buffalo penalties as Christian Ehrhoff and Jochen Hecht went out with various penalties giving Florida a 5-on-3 man advantage.
Thomas Vanek made Buffalo vulnerable in the opening minutes of the third and final period of regulation as he was booked for high-sticking but luckily the Sabres managed to kill it off. They were given a added man advantage when Florida’s Tomas Kopecky went
out for hooking but the Panthers also managed to keep Buffalo out of their net in those crucial two-minutes.
With less than three minutes remaining in the overtime extension, Jason Pominville made the game-winner and gave Buffalo the much needed two points.
Buffalo will be looking for another victory when they host New York Rangers on Saturday while Panthers have the next match against New York as well on Sunday.
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