Buffalo Sabres edge Vancouver Canucks with overtime win
Having the home ice advantage is something that all teams in the National Hockey League crave, but home ice is where the Buffalo Sabres have struggled the most.
Thankfully, the Sabres pulled off a 4-3 overtime win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks on Monday, 15 November.
How it happened
The Sabres took an early lead in the game when rookie Tyler Ennis scored his fifth goal of the season at 8:22 of the first period. Cody McCormick followed that up with a goal of his own
at 17:02 by beating Cory Schneider for his third goal of the season.
Daniel Sedin put an end to Schneider’s shutout bid at 7:18 of the second period when he scored a power play goal for the Canucks. Steve Montador then replied for Buffalo at 13:25 by beating
Ryan Miller with a slap shot.
Down by a score of 3-1 going into the final period, Vancouver cut into the home team’s lead when Alex Edler notched a power play goal at 4:48. The Canucks then tied the game at three goals
apiece when Mikael Samuelsson scored his third goal of the season at 9:21. The game would remain tied at the end of regulation play, forcing overtime.
In overtime, both teams fought for control of the puck, but it was the Sabres who would eventually gain control and win the game. Tyler Myers, the 2010 Calder Trophy winner, took advantage
of a giveaway from Dan Hamhuis, and fired a powerful wrist shot that beat Miller at 4:37 to seal the victory for the Sabres.
What they’re saying
The Sabres are a hard-working team, and it paid off as they earned their second consecutive home win. Tyler Myers said that the team battled hard throughout the game, and never gave up.
“I think it just goes to show that we battle right to the end,” Myers told reporters after the game. "We don’t want to be letting teams back in it like that in the third, but when they
(the Canucks) tied it up, it we showed good character that we didn’t just fall apart. We kept going and pushed right to the end.”
“Losing hurt, but we kept working hard,” Thomas Vanek added. “We knew we were going to turn it around. We dug ourselves a pretty good hole, but we are slowly climbing out of it. We’re
righting the ship here pretty good, but we have to keep going.”
Despite the loss, Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault was pleased with effort put forth by his charges.
“It was a hard fought game by a couple of good teams,” Vigneault said. “They’ve been playing some great hockey lately. Anybody who saw that game would have seen that there were two great
teams out there.”
Both teams will return to action on Wednesday 17 November. The Sabres will visit the Washington Capitals, while the Canucks will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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