GAME RECAP: Jets 5 @ Sabres 6 (SO)

It’s not how it begins, but how it ends that matters. For the Buffalo Sabres (9-5-0), it ended with an power play goal in overtime. Luckily for Buffalo, it was Thomas Vanek (from Jason Pominville and Marc Andre-Gragnani) who scored the goal that defeated the Winnipeg Jets (5-7-3) on Tuesday night in Buffalo. Ryan Miller got the win for the Sabres with 26 saves while facing 31 shots on goal. Ondrej Pavelec took the loss for the Jets, allowing six goals on 45 shots on goal.

Back to the beginning. It wasn’t very pretty for the Sabres. Once again Ryan Miller gave up two goals very quickly to leave the Sabres in a 2-0 hole early in the 1st period. After the game, Miller himself said he thought he might be pulled in favor of the scorching hot Jhonas Enroth. But the Sabres struck back with a power play goal by Derek Roy and Corey Tropp’s first goal of the season. Tanner Glass scored the third goal for the Jets and then Jason Pominville scored a short-handed goal to knot the score at 3-3 after only one period of play.

The Jets and Sabres traded goals in the second and third periods. In the second, Bryan Little scored his second goal of the night for the Jets on the power play. Thomas Vanek answered back with a power play goal of his own. In the third period, Dustin Byfuglien scored early to give the Jets a 5-4 lead. Derek Roy answered back with his second power play goal of the evening to tie the score at 5-5. Ultimately, Vanek won the game with his second power play goal of the game in overtime.

This was the kind of game that the Sabres really needed to win. It was a dogfight where they got down early and Ryan Miller wasn’t at his best. But the Sabres fought back and ultimately prevailed in overtime. The home crowd needed a win like this after the Sabres 2-3 record on their five game home-stand least week.

Buffalo successfully accomplished two things they needed to do in this game.