The Sabres were 6-23-3 in games their opponent scored first prior to this road trip.
“Obviously, our record when we give up the first one isn’t very good this year, but we played more of a mature game tonight,” Kyle Okposo said. “We still made some young mistakes. We can clean up some things. … But it was better. It’s getting better. We’re building an identity. Obviously, it’s difficult where we are but that’s all we can do is keep trying to play a mature game.”
Here’s more from the win.
1. Girgensons scored for the second straight game, having also buried a deflection during the win in Montreal. The Sabres held a 9-1 advantage in shot attempts with the forward line of Girgensons, Okposo, and Eric Robinson sharing the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“Our line, you know we’re going to work hard and get the puck down low, be simple and the last two games especially we’ve been pretty effective,” Okposo said.
2. Robinson returned to Columbus for the first time since being acquired by the Sabres from the Blue Jackets in December. The organization welcomed him back with a brief video during the first period.
3. Krebs, in addition to helping create the havoc in front of the Columbus net on Clifton’s goal, finished the night with four shots and won seven of 11 faceoffs. He deked his way around defenseman Erik Gudbranson to create a scoring chance for himself, but Tarasov made a glove save.
Granato has praised the 23-year-old’s performance since he was elevated to a line with Peterka and Zach Benson.
“He’s had a lot of best games,” Granato said. “They’re starting to accumulate. I can attribute that to his work ethic, his building an incredible foundation, a base of situational awareness and knowing how to keep the game simple and work from a simple base. He’s put so much work in and we’re starting to see that come to fruition, really.”
4. Okposo reflected on what it meant to win both games with the dads and other father figures in attendance.
“It’s great,” he said. “It’s something that breaks up kind of the monotony of the routine. Having the dads here and seeing how much joy they’re getting from watching us play and all their hard work and everything they’ve done to raise us, to just see us as good young men and the group that we have and how welcoming we are with everybody, it’s been phenomenal to have them on the trip.”
