Another big night for special teams
It could have been a bad night for Carolina early tonight, as captain Jordan Staal took two penalties in the opener at 8:19.
Carolina’s penalty kill has been a hot topic to start the season, as the results haven’t been where we’ve seen them in recent years. However, having moved in the right direction over the last few games, the group has found a way to kill both shorthanded relays, even with one of their best forwards shorthanded in the box.
Exactly two minutes after ending the Sabres’ second drive, they then took advantage of their first power play opportunity of the night.
After a failure by Buffalo, Tony DeAngelo threw a puck toward the net, grazing a Sabre’s glove before finding some string.
There’s an argument to be made that Carolina could have closed out the contest in regulation without the aforementioned ill-advised penalty.
Taking the lead with 12:06 left in the third was no small feat, especially after Buffalo did a good job keeping Carolina on the outside looking in all night.
However, only 38 seconds later Brady Skjei initial objective, Andrei Svechnikov was sent to boarding.
The Sabers cashed in and forced OT on the ensuing power play.
Easier to digest now after a win, special teams speed was a big area in tonight’s game, finishing 1/4 on the power play and 3/4 on the penalty kill.
