Sheary's 3rd-period goal lifts Sabres to victory over Columbus

COLUMBUS -Coming out of the bye week, Buffalo Sabres coach Phil Housley wanted to hit the reset button. His club had gone 3-6-1 in the 10 games before the break and he used the two practices and the morning skate before their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets to try to get back to basics.
The result was a 5-4 win over Columbus on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena. Conor Sheary, Jeff Skinner, Evan Rodrigues and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo. Carter Hutton finished the game with 33 saves.

The Sabres carried a 3-1 lead into the second period, but the Blue Jackets battled back. Columbus captain Nick Foligno scored on the power play 21 seconds in, and while the Sabres answered back almost immediately with a breakaway goal from Skinner, Columbus scored twice in the final 3:08 of the period to tie it 4-4.

The players said they maintained a positive vibe in the dressing room between periods and Hutton credited captain Jack Eichel with rallying the troops before they took the ice for the third.
Then, Sheary scored what turned out to be the winner 2:12 into the final frame and Buffalo was able to hang on to earn the two points.
"We had a good response. Giving up two quick ones on the road, it's tough," Skinner said. "We come into the intermission and regroup a little bit and get off to a great start. Shears gets a big goal for us and we were able to shut it down from there."
The final minutes of the game featured a feverish attack by the Blue Jackets, but the Sabres were able to hold their ground, get sticks and bodies into shot lanes and play well defensively.
"That's the price you have to pay to win," Housley said.

Line work

The Sabres really benefited from one new line combination in particular: Casey Mittelstadt between Sheary and Rodrigues. Sheary and Rodrigues each recorded a goal and an assist in the game. Rodrigues now has goals in four straight contests.
Sheary's goal was his first since Dec. 22 and his first non-empty net goal since Nov. 8.

"I went through a big drought of not scoring," Sheary said afterwards. "I think that was something people were telling me: Just get to the net. Those guys on my line were good at it too tonight. When you get pucks there, you get those second-chance opportunities and we were fortunate tonight."
The line found some instant chemistry and was, in Sheary's words, buzzing around Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus defense all night.
"I thought our line overall played really well. We were making plays, but at the same time, we were managing it, too, not making too risky of plays," Mittelstadt, who picked up an assist on Rodrigues' game-opening goal, said. "We had good support all over the ice, some little passes that opened up space for each other. I thought our line did really well as a whole and try to keep it rolling into Dallas."
Sheary's goal was the result of staying in front of the net and he was able to tap in a shot from Rodrigues that rebounded off Bobrovsky's pad.
"That's a mindset that you have to have when things aren't going your way. If you go there, things are going to happen and it happened for Conor Sheary," Housley said.

Gaining ground in the East

With 56 points through 49 games played, they're now two points back of Pittsburgh for the second Wild Card spot. Columbus remains one point ahead of the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.
"Even though they're not in our division, we're still chasing them down," Sheary said of Columbus. "We're trying to move into that Wild Card spot and then eventually into the top of our division so these were a big two points for us."

Dahlin continues to make history

Rasmus Dahlin recorded two assists for his sixth multi-point game of the season.
According to @PR_NHL, only two other defensemen in NHL history have had at least six before their 19th birthdays: Phil Housley (13) and Bobby Orr (8).
He's also climbing the all-time points list for 18-year-old defensemen.

Coming up

The Sabres are in Dallas for a game Wednesday night against the Stars. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on MSG and WGR 550.
They'll then return home to open up a seven-game homestand starting Friday against Chicago.