Rangers Beat Sabres in Winter Classic Rematch

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Recap

In a rematch of the 2018 Winter Classic, the Rangers continued their (short) winning streak by beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3.  After beating the Flyers 5-1 on Tuesday, the Rangers got off to a hot start early in the game and finished off the resilient Sabres.

 

Top Line

The Rangers Top line, consisting of Nash, Zibanejad, and Buchnevich continued their hot play as Nash opened the scoring on a quick wrist shot on a breakway.  Buchnevich received the lone assist on Nash’s goal.

 

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While Chris Kreider’s absence is tough to stomach, Rick Nash has stepped into his slot on the KZB (NZB) line and the new combo has gotten both Nash and Buchnevich going after having extended scoring slumps.  Nearly eight minutes into the 3rd period Nash scored again after Buchnevich fed Holden for a shot that went wide, bounced off the boards, ricocheted onto Nash’s stick and was buried into the open net.

 

 

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Nash now has four goals in the past two games while Buchnevich has assists on three of them.  In addition, Pavel Buchnevich scored the game winning goal shortly after the Sabres tied it at 3.  Mika Zibanejad fed Buchnevich from behind the goal line and Buchnevich had no issue burying it in the wide open net.

 

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Buchnevich’s capped off his night when he received the Broadway Hat for his game winning goal and an assist on one of Nash’s goals.

 

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Sabres Power Play

After the Rangers took a 1-0 lead into the waning moments of the 1st, Brendan Smith was sent off to the box for a Buffalo Power Play.  On the Power Play, the Sabres scored on a cross crease pass that was buried by Kyle Okposo for his 8th goal of the season.

 

 

It’s Miller Time Baby

Midway through the second period, JT Miller took a neat feed from David Desharnais, cut toward the slot and roofed a nasty wrist shot over Robin Lehner’s shoulder to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

 

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The goal was Miller’s 10th of the season and showcased Miller’s lethal shot.  While Miller, like many Rangers, does not shoot the puck as often as we would like, he makes his shots count.

 

Sabres Power Play AGAIN

While the Sabres are not having the greatest of seasons, they have given the Rangers some issues in closing out games.  In the Winter Classic the Rangers came out strong and jumped on the Sabres early for two goals.  However, after being dominated for most of the 1st period, the Sabres were able to claw their way back into the game and eventually forced overtime.  For the second time in this game, the Sabres showed their resilience on the Power Play when Justin Falk scored his first goal in nearly three years.  His first goal of the season tied the score heading into the 3rd period.

 

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Sabres Power Play Part III

After entering the game with the worst power play in the league, the Sabres scored three power play goals against a Rangers PK that ranked 6th coming into the game.  After Rick Nash put the Rangers up 3-2, the Sabres capitalized for the 3rd time on the power play when Rasmus Ristolainen scored on feeds from Kyle Okposo and Jack Eichel.

 

Enter Sandman

After going up 4-3 on the 3rd goal from the NZB line, the Rangers withstood the Sabres late pressure.  For the final two minutes of the game, the Sabres had the extra skater on the ice and even had a 6-4 advantage for 38 seconds when Mats Zuccarello was sent to the box.  Henrik Lundvist came up huge, as he has done for years, and made an incredible save in the waning seconds to secure two points for the Blueshirts.

 

Next Game

The Rangers will look to continue their winning streak against the Avalanche on Saturday at 3PM EST.

LETS GO RANGERS!!!

 

 

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