“He’s on a heater” | Reimer, penalty kill help Sabres blank Hurricanes

The Buffalo Sabres had last won five straight games in January of 2023. They’d last won seven straight home games early in the 1999-2000 season.

Buffalo accomplished both feats with a 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at KeyBank Center, a performance highlighted by James Reimer’s 33 saves, a perfect penalty kill and, yes, another goal from Tage Thompson.

Despite having gone 11-4-0 since March 10, the Sabres were officially eliminated from playoff contention as Montreal beat Detroit on Tuesday.

“It’s mixed emotions, for sure,” said captain Rasmus Dahlin. “I mean, pissed that we started to play good now – it’s too late. But also, it’s good we can see that we can play good hockey, and we can beat any team in this league. So I guess we have to build for next year, and this is how you do it.”

Reimer continued his late-season excellence with his first shutout with the Sabres, extending his personal winning streak to seven games in the process; he’s posted a .925 save percentage during that stretch.

“So steady, so calm – it’s like he’s been doing it for 20 years or something,” Alex Tuch joked of the 37-year-old netminder who, in his 15th NHL season, is riding his longest winning streak. “… He’s been our best player the last handful of games.”

“He just looks calm,” added Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “I think he’s got himself in a good place, and he’s just continuing to roll. Not unlike what a goal scorer would do when they get going in the right direction, I think Reims is feeling it right now. He’s on a heater.”

Postgame, Reimer credited his success to the skaters in front of him, whose performances shined brightest while shorthanded. Buffalo committed three penalties and killed off all three in varying fashion.

Late in a scoreless opening period, Buffalo shortened its first penalty kill to just 56 seconds. Dahlin’s crushing hit on Jackson Blake forced an errant pass and allowed Zach Benson to clear the zone to Beck Malenstyn, who sped up ice and drew a high-sticking minor.

The Hurricanes’ only power-play shots came during their second opportunity, unscreened from defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, but Reimer turned them aside with ease.

And the Sabres’ final penalty kill extended their lead to 2-0 late in the second period. Ryan McLeod won a neutral-zone faceoff to Bowen Byram, who laced a stretch pass onto the streaking Tuch’s tape. Tuch beat Pyotr Kochetkov five-hole, completing what he later revealed to be a set play off the draw.

“Clouder and Bysy were talking, because we saw [Carolina] line up with a winger all the way over and (Brent) Burnsy was a little bit close to the wall,” Tuch said. “We thought maybe if Clouder won it back clean, he can get it to me. Got a little lucky, and we’ll take it.”

Calling the play “lucky” may be shortchanging McLeod, who won 13 of 18 faceoffs and has had a winning record at the dot in nine of 15 games during the Sabres’ 11-4-0 run.

It marked Tuch’s NHL-leading sixth shorthanded tally of the season and 34th goal overall. The last Buffalo skater with six or more shorthanded goals? Michael Peca, who scored six in 1996-97.

“He’s got a knack for it,” Ruff said. “Those guys set up that play, and heck of a play and heck of a goal at that time. Talk about special teams helping you win a game – getting a shorthanded goal (at) that time was big for us, and he’s been able to do that all year long.”

Here’s more from the win, the 899th of Ruff’s coaching career.

1. Thompson, who said after Sunday’s hat trick that he’s eying a 50-goal season, netted his 44th – ultimately the game winner – to open the scoring 1:32 into the second period. The three-zone play saw Thompson steal a bouncing puck inside the defensive blue line, carry it into the Carolina end and shoot it past Kochetkov from the right circle.

He’s now scored in five straight games, a career-best streak. Eight goals match the best five-game span of his career. He tied William Nylander for second on the NHL goals leaderboard, trailing only Leon Draisaitl’s 52. And he passed Draisaitl for the league lead with his 37th even-strength goal.

In short, Thompson is scorching hot with five games remaining, and he’s been the driving offensive force in Buffalo’s recent success.

2. The Sabres were paced 33-18 in shots on goal and 67-43 in shot attempts, a typical margin for the Rod Brind’Amour-coached Hurricanes. That said, Ruff feels his team’s scoring chances lacked in quantity but not quality.

“We probably had as good, or maybe a little bit better quality chances than they had,” said Buffalo’s coach. “They had more shots, but I think the quality, probably the edge to that would go to us.”

Kochetkov’s frequent straying from his crease led to a few dangerous opportunities, including an open net in the first period that McLeod just missed from a wide angle. And to begin the second, moments before Thompson’s goal, Jiri Kulich’s wide-angle missile drilled the joint of the crossbar and the far post.

3. JJ Peterka scored the third Buffalo goal, cashing in on a 2-on-1 created by Jack Quinn's offensive-zone steal. Peterka has logged a point in nine of the last 11 games, totaling five goals and six assists during that span.

Quinn, meanwhile, is up to 36 points (14+22) this season, one shy of his career-high 37 in 2022-23.

Up next

The Sabres hit the road for their final trip of the season, which begins Thursday at Columbus.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.