Sabres’ 9-goal reversal not seen in 40 NHL seasons

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The wild swings in performance from the Sabres this season have reached a level that had not occurred over the past 40 NHL seasons.

Sabres bounce back with big win vs. Leafs

Winning 9-3 against their rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, after losing 9-4 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. According to Canadian broadcast outlet Sportsnet, the Sabres became the first team to score nine goals in a game after giving up nine since the Detroit Red Wings did so in December, 1983. Toronto was the last team to score eight goals in after giving up that many in the previous game, in December, 2005.

Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo led Buffalo’s scoring surge with two goals each. The Sabres also got goals from Tage Thompson, Jordan Greenway, Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power in its highest-scoring game of the season. Alex Tuch set a career-high with four assists.

The Sabres had scored that many goals once over the previous four seasons, a 9-4 win at Columbus last December when Thompson tied a team record by scoring five times.

While this week marked the most extreme example of the Sabres’ up-and-down play this season, it continued a trend. Buffalo won 5-2 on the road against NHL-leading Vegas last week after a 5-1 loss in Colorado, and won 3-1 in Boston, beating the top team in the Eastern Conference to snap a four-game skid in which it had given up 19 goals. That came after a 5-1 win on Nov. 27 in New York when the Rangers had the best record in the league, two nights after a 7-2 loss in New Jersey.

***

Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.