WINNIPEG — Eric Comrie’s season hasn’t been the one he envisioned. He began as the Sabres’ de facto starting goaltender and turned in some stellar efforts on the trip to Western Canada. Then injuries struck Buffalo’s defensive core and the Sabers fought through an eight-game losing streak, during which Comrie injured his knee. He was off the ice for more than a month, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen grabbed hold of the top goalie gig in the interim and never let go.
Since getting healthy, Comrie had played in just one game, a 4-3 loss to Seattle on Jan. 10, before the Sabres’ trip to Winnipeg, where he spent parts of the past five seasons. Sabers coach Don Granato saw an opportunity to get Comrie back in the crease against his former team in a familiar arena. Matched up against Connor Hellebuyck, Comrie stopped 19 of 21 shots Thursday to help the Sabers hang on for a 3-2 win. The Sabers had 73 percent of the high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, and controlled the game from start to finish before a late Jets push.
“When the guys play like that in front of you, it’s a pretty easy night,” Comrie said. “That was the best I’ve seen us play all year. It was incredible. … I can’t pinpoint one thing because we were just that good tonight. That was a dominant performance by our team, and if we can do that every single night, that’s a special team we have here. That’s a fun group to play behind and a fun group to be a part of. That’s Buffalo Saber hockey right now: It’s a lot of fun and exciting.”
What became clear after the game was how badly the Sabers wanted to get a win for Comrie. Even after having some hard luck earlier in the season, Comrie has found a way to contribute positively. He has helped Craig Anderson mentor Luukkonen and continued to come to the rink with a smile. Since he’s been back practicing, he has continued to log long hours, arriving early and staying late to make sure his teammates have someone to shoot on.
“You think of all of those things and it makes it nicer that he performed like he did tonight,” Granato said.
As he did when he went back to his hometown of Edmonton, Comrie said he didn’t get wrapped up in Thursday being a homecoming. He wanted to lock in on his game, knowing how precious these opportunities are. Even with how everything has gone this season, Comrie said he has never had more fun playing hockey than he’s having with this team.
“These guys pick you up no matter what happens,” Comrie said. “They’re always there to support you. It doesn’t matter what happens. We’re all together for one. It doesn’t matter the situation; we’re all just trying to earn it together and have so much fun as a group. We never get down on each other. We’re just trying to pick each other up. It’s a fun group to be around because never once are we complaining. We really just say positive stuff to each other and really make sure we enjoy ourselves.”
That’s easier to do with how they’re playing right now. The Sabers have won five straight games, including three in a row to start this trip. They’re now 10-1-1 against the Western Conference on the road. Winnipeg isn’t a slouch. The Jets should be back in the playoffs this season, but the Sabers managed to keep them on their heels for most of the game. As the games get bigger, the Sabers continue to show they’re for real.
Owen Power got the scoring started for Buffalo midway through the second period with a nifty play to buy himself space while skating across the slot. He then beat Hellebuyck clean with a wrist shot after the Sabers had been peppering him with shots early in the game. Power has scored in three consecutive games.
“He is an impressive player in this league,” Granato said. “I know he hasn’t been talked about for rookie of the year; it’s astonishing to me because of how he couldn’t be. What he does on a nightly basis is just amazing when you factor in his age and lack of experience in our league, to dominate situations and really complete games the way he does.”
Thursday, the Sabers were without Mattias Samuelsson, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, but Power stepped up to help carry the defensive group. The Sabers had 83 percent of the expected goals when he was on the ice at five-on-five, the best among Buffalo’s defensemen. Comrie faced only six high-danger shots on net and stopped all six.
At one point, the Sabers opened up a 3-0 lead. It started with a ridiculous bit of passing from Jeff Skinner, who lofted a puck from the left board to Alex Tuch near the far right corner. Tuch took the pass and quickly dished it to Tage Thompson, who had a wide-open net for his 34th goal of the season. Play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy aptly described the play as “tic-tac-Thompson!” on the Sabres’ broadcast.
Classic Tuchy hug ☺️@budlight | #BudLightCelly pic.twitter.com/bowKNDDEl0
— Buffalo Sabers (@BuffaloSabres) January 27, 2023
“He’s a big body; it’s hard to miss him up there,” Tuch said. “(Skinner) made an unbelievable pass to hit me wide. Sometimes you’ve got to throw an extra pass in to beat a goalie like Hellebuyck. He played really well tonight. We weren’t able to beat him clean. We had to beat him on a couple backdoors and a couple seeing-eye shots. I think our chemistry is growing a little bit. Got a little lucky, too.”
Victor Olofsson added a power-play goal early in the third period, and that proved a valuable cushion. The Jets needed a desperate push late in the third period to get the game back to 3-2, but the Sabers were otherwise in control.
With this five-game winning streak, the Sabers are only two points behind the Penguins for the final wild-card spot in the East. They’re also three points behind the Washington Capitals with three games in hand.
Quick hits
1. During a brutal stretch in which the Sabers played 12 games in 19 days, Granato realized he needed to cut back on the practice time. He considers that a “read and react” situation for any team he has coached. He started to realize earlier this month that the extra time on the ice between games was doing more harm than good. The Sabers took days off last Friday after Ryan Miller Night and Wednesday after the back-to-back, and they will do so again Friday when the team arrives in Minnesota. Granato notices a difference with his team when it’s rested.
“We need to look fresh,” he said. “That’s a major priority for us.”
2. Tyson Jost had a terrific game against the Jets. He had five shots on the night and five high-danger scoring chances all by himself. The Sabers also had 88 percent of the expected goals when he was on the ice at five-on-five. The line of Jost, Olofsson and Casey Mittelstadt has continued to produce, and it adds another dimension for the Sabers to be able to count on the bottom six forwards for tough minutes.
3. It’s become commonplace for Rasmus Dahlin, but he had another two assists and now has 55 points in 47 games. He played alongside Kale Clague after Samuelsson was a late scratch, but the change didn’t matter. He’s become so consistent at both ends of the ice.
“The difference, for me, is he has such a base level of defensive knowledge. He kills plays so fast that there’s no more stress for him in a game,” Granato said. “As he’s developed his defensive game, his assertiveness for playing defense, that’s just given him the green light now to be as offensive as he is. There’s no burden for him anymore. There’s no mistake where he’s wondering what happened. That’s freed him up.”
Injuries: Granato said Samuelsson should have a chance to play when the Sabers visit Minnesota on Saturday. They wanted to give him more time to rest a lower-body injury. Dylan Cozens left Thursday’s game after taking a high hit, but Granato said he could have come back in if there had been more time on the clock, so that shouldn’t be much of a concern.
(Photo of Eric Comrie and Henri Jokiharju: Terrence Lee / USA Today)
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