The New York Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres tonight by a score of 2-1. The Rangers are now 18-5-3, while the Sabres drop to 8-15-3. The Sabres lost their fifth straight game.
The Breakdown
Mika Zibanejad (5) scored a power-play goal at 4:48 in the first period. It was assisted by Artemi Panarin (23) and Adam Fox (23). The last time Zibanejad scored was on November 5, 2021, against the Edmonton Oilers when he scored twice. One of them was a power-play goal.
Alexis Lafreniere got his sixth goal of the game at 9:47 in the second period, assisted by Fox (24) and Filip Chytil (4).
At 14:37 in the third period, Brett Murray (2) got an unassisted goal, cutting the lead in half. It got crazy when the Sabres took out their goalie to give their team an advantage. It appeared that the Sabres tied the game with under a minute left. The play was reviewed to see if the puck crossed the red line. The refs confirmed that it did, but then the Rangers decided to challenge the goal saying the Sabres were offsides. Again, the refs looked it over and the offsides was confirmed so the goal did not count. They added time back to the clock, leaving the Sabres 1:26 left to try tying the game. Unfortunately for them, this did not happen and the Rangers end up winning 2-1.
Alexandar Georgiev was outstanding, making 36 saves and the Sabres went 0-2 on the power play. Rangers went 1-2. Each team had nine minutes in penalties, but the Rangers out-hit the Sabres 17-5.
The Metropolitan Division
In order for the Rangers to take over the Metro Division, they needed to win and the Washington Capitals needed to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is exactly what happened when the Penguins defeated the Caps 4-2. The Rangers are now first in the division with 39 points, only leading the Caps by one point. This can change tomorrow if the Carolina Hurricanes win against the Oilers. Their game starts at 10 p.m. ET at Rogers Place.
The Rangers play again Sunday night at home against the Nashville Predators at 7 p.m. ET. Will the Rangers end the weekend with a win? Or will the Predators sink their teeth in, causing the Rangers to go 1-2 in their last three games? Stay tuned Sunday, November 12, 2021 at 7 p.m. to see who wins this East vs West Conference matchup.
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